Memoirs of a Ninja
by TeamShinra
Summary: When Minato decided to get Kakashi a 'friend' with the help of Kushina, he didn't know exactly what mess he'd get himself into... Series of one shots which tie together.
1. The Beginning of Everything

**.1. The Beginning of Everything**

* * *

><p>"Haa..."<p>

Minato looks over worriedly, watching his wife sink onto the couch, one hand on her bloated belly. "Something the matter, dear?" He questions, frowning slightly as he wonders if she might be in pain brought on by the pregnancy.

"Not _really_, I guess..." Kushina huffs softly before shaking her head. "No, there is, actually."

"What is it!" Minato jumps up from his seat, eyes widening slightly as he prepares himself to lift up his wife in his arms and to flash them to the hospital where she can be treated by a medical nin. "Are you in pain!" Panic can be heard in his voice, his body tense.

Kushina eyes him a bit coolly. "Calm down, Minato. It's not about me." She snorts, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. "It's one of my chunin."

"... Oh." Minato replies after a short pause before visually relaxing as he sits down again. Of course, it's not that he's happy that something is going on with one of the chunin, but at least it's not his _wife_ who is in trouble...

"Hmm... Shinra's father died on a mission last week, and Shinra walked in on her mother laying on the ground, dead. I mean, the _note_ that was left, seriously!" She scowls lightly, showing her teeth. "I did not mean to get Kyo killed in that battle. The guilt is too strong for me to live on anymore and thus I have decided to assassinate myself so I can apologize to my lover in the afterlife."

Minato blinks a few times. "That's a bit..." He doesn't finish the sentence, a bit at a loss of words, before he straightens up in his seat. "Ah! Maybe she should talk to Kakashi!" He offers, a grin growing on his face, even after hearing the news. "His father offed himself as well!"

Kushina lets out a feral growl, punching Minato upside his head. "Don't be so disrespectful in talking about the dead, and by _God_, Minato! Don't sound so _happy_ about it!"

Minato groans, clutching his head, small tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "But..."

"No buts." Kushina huffs, sitting back again and closing her eyes once more. She's just so, so tired... "But I guess you finally got a _somewhat_ smart thought in that blonde head of yours..." She ponders it over lightly before shrugging. "Let's do it."

"R-Really?" Minato questions, gently rubbing his abused head as he looks at his wife slightly hopeful, hoping that she's not just saying that so that he'll let his guard down and she can abuse his head again.

"Yes, really." Kushina confirms, a slightly satisfied look on her face.

"Great!" Minato drops his hands from his head, all pain forgotten. 'Don't worry, Kakashi... I have found you a friend!' He thinks cheerfully, grinning once more.

"Now be a darling and give me a foot-rub, would you?" Kushina asks, her tone sweet, yet Minato knows better to be fooled by that tone by now... A _lot_ better.

"Of course, dear."

* * *

><p>Kakashi looks around slowly. On his left, there is Minato who is happily ordering everyone a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku, Minato being seated next to Rin who is seated next to Obito. On his right, however, there are mostly people he doesn't really know... Sure, he's seen Kushina's team around once or twice, but it's not like he's ever seen them <em>this <em>close.

On his right is a girl with bright red hair reaching her waist, kicking her feet lightly. Her eyes are crimson and there is a small beauty mark on her right cheek, next to her lips. Next to her is someone he's seen around more often; Kushina, his teacher's wife. Next to Kushina are the last two additions to her team; twin boys with black hair and blue eyes. One of the twins has his hitai-ate on his left arm, the other on his right; probably so that people (Kushina) can keep them apart.

Kushina clears her throat, calling the attention of the two teams upon her. "Alright, team Minato, meet team Kushina." She comments, motioning her hand towards her own team. "These are Shinra," she points at the girl "Fuji," she points at the twin who has his hitai-ate on his right arm "Hiro." she points at the twin with the hitai-ate on his left arm.

"Guys, these are Kakashi, Rin and Obito." She introduces team Minato to her own team.

Shinra doesn't really bother looking up, not really interested in what's going on. Fuji and Hiro show identical grins towards the other team, greeting the three cheerfully enough.

Kakashi rolls his eyes before turning his attention back to staring at Minato who's happily chatting with Teuchi; the owner of the ramen stand, about kids. Apparently the man is planning to discuss future kids with his wife but isn't sure how to go about it... Then again, the man is an idiot if he thinks that Minato can give any useful tips on that part... since it was Kushina who _demanded_ a kid.

Rin smiles politely at the other group, greeting them calmly, while Obito grins and waves.

"Heehhh~ You're pretty cute." Hiro grins, leaning towards Rin ever so slightly. "Let's be friends, hm?"

"... Huh?" Rin blinks a few times. "I guess..." She shakes her head slightly, not used to being called 'cute'.

"OI!" Obito jumps up from his seat. "Keep your perverted hands off of Rin, you hear!" He yells loudly, drawing attention upon themselves.

Kakashi sighs, shaking his head. "Iiiiidiot." He mutters under his breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Obito demands, stomping his foot lightly. "I AM _NOT_ AN IDIOT!"

"Of course you'd say that... You probably think it's quite normal to scream about nothing in a public place..." Kakashi snorts.

"That's it! I! Challenge you! To an eating contest!" Obito yells, pointing his finger at Kakashi. "Let's see who can eat the most bowls!"

"That's obviously you... Your speed and fat indicates that much, at least." Kakashi snorts, completely uninterested.

"WHAT!"

"Now, now, guys..." Rin tries to calm them down. "Let's not fight, okay?" She pulls Obito back into his seat.

"He called me slow and FAT!" Obito yells! "I am NOT fat!"

"Yes, yes..." Rin tries to calm him down, keeping in the sigh just _begging_ to come out.

'Idiots...' Shinra thinks, shaking her head.

Minato chuckles softly before tensing up as he can hear his wife grow ferally at him, most likely thanks to the demon fox the woman carries, then gulps. Considering the fact that he sleeps next to her, he considers it his greatest S-Rank mission to keep the red-head happy... It is, after all, a mission of life and death. "Alright, you guys. Break it up." He comments, which finally causes Obito to quiet down.

Obito growls at Kakashi before turning his head away with a huff. Kakashi merely rolls his eyes at this, turning his attention back to Minato who goes back to chatting with Teuchi, as Rin lets out a soft relieved sigh.

Hiro and Fuji snicker softly, high-fiving each other with big grins on their faces. Aparently all the rumors they heard about the team guided by Konoha's yellow flash were all true~

Kushina shakes her head lightly. 'Those two are so much trouble...' She snorts before directing her eyes at Shinra who's simply been staring at the counter this entire time. Normally Shinra would either laugh with the twins or tell them to behave. However, Kushina has noticed that she's just been sitting there, barely blinking. 'This had better work out...' She thinks, sighing softly.

Minato sits back with a grin as Teuchi starts placing bowls of steaming ramen in front of everyone. A chorus of "Thank you for the food." sounds from the group before everyone starts to eat. That is... everyone, except Kakashi.

Now, normally Kakashi makes sure to eat while everyone is pre occupied. He has mastered fast eating, after all. However, for a reason he can´t explain, Minato seems to be unable to keep his eyes off of the younger one. Kakashi shifts into his seat, slightly uncomfortably, eying Minato.

"Erm, Sensei... Something the matter?" He ends up asking dryly.

"No, of course not, Kakashi." Minato smiles at his student, very inconspicuously nudging him a bit closer to Shinra. "You know, you should talk to people your own age outside your group a bit more as well..." He hints, still nudging.

Kakashi doesn't reply, merely looks at Minato blankly. He lets the other nudge him towards the girl next to him, not really caring much, but makes sure that Minato will understand that Kakashi is sending the blonde a very, _very_ flat look.

Shinra, however, completely ignores what's going on on the left of her, quietly eating. Kushina sighs, shaking her head. 'Is this _ever_ going to work...?' She wonders, before going back to eating. One can always hope, at least.

* * *

><p><em>Well, this is the first of many chapters to come, haha. As you can see on my profile, there are profiles on there of 'Team 15', a Naruto team I have created for a game I'm currently working on. This story is from when Shinra, the jounin teacher, was young, and how she met Kakashi... There will be stories with them together and stories of just Kakashi tossed around here and there. While all the one shots are part of the greater picture, they're pretty much read on their own.<em>  
><em>My home page links to my 'site' which is really just my folder in which my Team 15 pics appear... Which includes all pictures of Shinra and Kakashi together that I'm drawing in the future [and the one I'm currently working on...]. Soon, there will also be a picture of Shinra, Fuji and Hiro so that you can get a better picture of them.<em>


	2. A TwoMan Job

**.2. A Two-Man Job**

Kakashi eyes Minato, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "Sensei... Since _when_ do we train with another team?" He questions, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

"See? That's it exactly." Minato huffs softly. "Because we never do it, we should _learn_ to do it. There will come a time when all of you will be independent, put together with people you are not familiar with and you'll be expected to complete the mission with them. Things like these are to prepare you for times like that." Minato smiles, patting Kakashi on the head.

Kakashi scowls lightly from underneath his mask but doesn't argue. It's not like he doesn't see the point; everything Minato said was true, after all. "Fiiiine..." He huffs softly, looking up as he hears other people approaching. Somehow, he's not surprised to see Kushina appear with her own genin cell. Figures Minato is using this opportunity to spend some more time with his wife...

His eyes shift towards his own team, wondering if it's a three man battle... 'I sure hope not... That idiot will only get in the way.' He thinks to himself, already feeling himself getting annoyed at the mere thought of having to somehow devise a plan which is simple enough for Obito to _not_ ruin.

"Alright, everyone seems to be here now." Minato smiles as Kushina, Fuji, Hiro and Shinra come to a stop with them. "We're going to be doing a three way battle," he begins. "of course, the pairs will be created by Kushina and me."

Kakashi raises an eyebrow at this while Rin and Obito looks at each other in question, confusion obvious on their faces. Surely they won't have to split up, somehow? But since it's a three-man battle... 'God, I hope I'm not with that idiot...' Kakashi thinks.

The other team doesn't seem too surprised at the news. Either they have gone through this kind of experience before, or Kushina explains things a lot faster than Minato and doesn't wait until the last moment to do so.

"Alright, now for the pairs..." Minato lets his eyes roam over the six students before smiling slightly. "Well, of course Kushina and I have already decided on them... Actually we talked this over yesterday. We tried to make it so that the two people in each team will nullify each other's weaknesses, so... First up, Rin and Hiro."

Rin scowls lightly at the news, remembering how Hiro's casual comment of her being 'pretty cute' started a fight between Obito and Kakashi... somehow. Hiro merely grins, brushing his black bangs out of his face while turning big innocent eyes to the girl, pretending that he doesn't see Obito twitch from the corner of his eye.

"Alright..." Minato sweatdrops lightly before shaking his head. "Next up, Kakashi and Shinra."

Kakashi shifts his eyes to Shinra, noticing that she's also glancing his way. He realizes he doesn't know that much about the girl, only the basic things... Apparently she uses the obnoxiously long skirt underneath her top to grab onto people and keep them in place. Damn, he was hoping to get a healer... Especially since the skirt is bound to slow his temporary 'partner' down... He scowls lightly, but of course, that is something that can't really be seen from behind his mask.

Minato barely suppresses a sigh of relief. To be honest, he had really thought Kakashi would put up a big fight about having to work with a stranger, but this isn't too bad of a reaction from the little Chunin... "And last, of course, Obito and Fuji-"

"NO WAY!" Obito objects. "I DON'T WANT TO WORK WITH THAT GUY! GIMME RIN!" He stomps his foot on the ground, causing dust to fly up. He doesn't want to team up with the guy who has the same face as the guy who was flirting with _his_ Rin!

"Obito, deal with it." Kushina says simply, narrowing her eyes slightly. This causes Obito to quiet down, settling for a mere glare in the direction of Fuji who looks at him as innocently as Hiro looked at Rin just a moment ago.

"Well, those are the set ups." Minato decides, smiling at the genin, though none of them really make a move to go to each other. "Well... come on, go stand with your partner." He makes a small shooing motion with his hand.

With a small huff Rin moves towards Hiro, cheeks darkening slightly as he winks at her. She tries to cover this up with a scowl, but the smirk on Hiro's lips shows that he's already seen it. 'Bastard...' She thinks as she comes to a stop next to him.

Fuji moves to Obito before smiling at the young Uchiha. "Nice to meet you, I'm Fuji." He greets, extending his hand to the other.

"I _know_ who you are. Sensei just told me." Obito growls, crossing his arms over his chest, not shaking Fuji's outstretched one.

Fuji shrugs slightly, dropping his hand again.

Shinra moves to Kakashi, stopping in front of him before looking him over. Nothing shows on her face as she looks away again with a bit of a disinterested expression. She figures all the stories about the 'Genius Kakashi' are severely overrated... There's no way this bored looking guy can _really_ be a chunin, right?

Kakashi´s eyes narrow lightly as she looks away, not even looking impressed in the least. "Don't get in my way." He blanks at her before turning his own head away from the other.

"Whatever." She comments casually, blowing her red fringe out of her face.

Kakashi grits her teeth, about to respond, when Minato (whom got elbowed in the side by his wife who was actually paying attention to the attitude the two have against each other) clears his throat. "Alright, now for the rules... All three of you will go into a separate way direction of the forest. The goal is to capture the 'enemy teams' without actually hurting them too much... Of course, to make sure you will all work together, it's enough to capture one person to make a team lose." Minato smiles slightly. "You will all have 10 minutes to prepare. When I give the starting signal, you will move out and try to capture each other, do you understand?"

He receives several nods before Kakashi cocks his head to the side. "Sensei... What about you?"

"Why, isn't that obvious?" Minato's smile seems to grow ever so slightly. "Kushina and I will be participating as well, but we'll be going solo. The game will continue until there is one team left standing."

Kakashi nods, feeling a sliver of excitement build in his chest. He can fight his teacher... 'I'm going after him first.' He thinks, already deciding upon the target, not bothering to ask Shinra if she wants to go after Minato first as well.

"Alright, now... Team one," Minato points at Rin and Hiro "you will go that way." He points at a random direction of the forest. "Team two," he points at Kakashi and Shinra "you have that part of the forest." He explains, pointing at another part of the forest. "Then team three," he points at Obito and Fuji "you get that one." he points at yet another part. "Now... Kushina will go that way and I will go this way, after sounding the starting shot." He explains, pointing at two more parts. "Is everyone ready?"

Several nods and murmurs of "Yeeeeees" can be heard, before Kushina claps her hands. "Alright everyone, prepare to leave then." She smiles, watching everyone move to the beginning of 'their part' of the forest. "And go." She says before starting to head into her own part while Minato remains behind.

- Group 01 -

Rin's eye twitches lightly as she can feel Hiro's eyes bore into the back of her skull. "Erm... Can you... _not_ stare at me?" She questions, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. Of course, it's not like it's an ugly genin who's staring at her. With his short black messy bangs and black fringe which covers light blue eyes she can almost call him 'cute'.

His outfit also shows that there is little he has to hide body-wise, as he has muscles like most genin do thanks to hours and hours of excessive training. He's wearing a simple tunic-like top where his left arm is covered by a sleeve. His right arm, however, is lacking the sleeve and shows his hitai-ate on his bicep. His pants are made of the same material but while the left leg is completely covered, on the right leg only his thigh is covered, the rest of his leg visible. Both the top and the pants are white with light blue lining.

"How so? Do you have something to hide?" Hiro questions innocently.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Rin scrunches up her nose in confusion, glancing back at Hiro to get a look at him.

"Is there something you do not wish for me to see?" Hiro asks, the tone he's using indicating that he might as well be talking to a three-years old child. His main forte is generally coming up with a few strategies which are easy to put into action, yet with things like this he just can't help but use those brains of him to annoy others.

"No..." Rin grits her teeth slightly, already annoyed with the antics of the twin.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem, right?" Hiro says simply, smiling at Rin who balls her hands into fists before walking on again, opting to ignore the other. Hiro chuckles softly, shaking his head as he walks on after her.

- Group 02 -

Kakashi eyes Shinra from the corner of his eye. Simply her being there, not saying a word, annoys him. Of course, it's not the not talking part that annoys him, he actually _likes_ that part. It's just that there is no doubt in their mind that when they'll be moving around, the other teams will most likely learn of their position right away.

Her appearance is the first thing he noticed about her when they were introduced at Ichiraku a few days ago; long red hair which reaches her waist and a fringe so long that it will probably get into her crimson eyes when she fights - something Kakashi can only find an amateur's mistake. Least she can do is make sure her hair won't get in the way while fighting, right? He doesn't have many thoughts on the beauty mark a little under her right cheek; just like the eyes that's not something someone can change without using a jutsu anyway.

Then, while the long sleeved purple tunic decorated with yellow and showing her shoulders (though while he hasn't gotten a good look yet, he's sure the sleeves are separated from the rest) looks alright, the girl is wearing a long, heavy green skirt underneath it which nearly drags over the ground. It has a slit at the front and with some movements he can see the black shorts underneath. The skirt is as green as the sash around her waist which has her hitai-ate attached to it.

He can easily hear her steps, so unlike his own soundless movements. Not only that, but now and then he can hear the skirt drag over the forest. 'If I can hear it... so can everyone else.' He thinks to himself, slightly annoyed. 'She should get something better for her jutsu's...' he thinks, shaking his head lightly. "Here should be fine." He comments, coming to a stop at a small clearing.

Shinra stops a little behind Kakashi, glancing around her. "Should be good if we put some traps around here..." She muses, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly.

Kakashi tries to suppress the twitch in his eyes that wants to come up as he sees that the tilt brings some of her fringe into the girl's eyes. 'At least we seem to be on the same wave length, brain wise...' He thinks to himself, trying to see _something_ positive in the girl. He's going to need to keep her close until they finish after all...

He nods at the comment. "Let's start over there." he points at a point a little away from the clearing. "You'll go from the right, I'll go from the left, we'll meet up at the end."

She nods before the two set out to do their thing.

- Group 03 -

Fuji can't really suppress the sweat drop growing on the side of his head as Obito not only keeps glaring at him as they walk, but the Uchiha even lets out a growl now and then.

"Erm... Maybe you should be quiet, hm? Once we start, we wouldn't want your growling to give our position away." He suggests, raising an eyebrow at Obito. He's wearing a near identical outfit as Hiro does. Only with Fuji's outfit he's missing the right sleeve on his tunic and has his hitai-ate on his right arm. Also, he's missing the left leg of his pants.

At the beginning Fuji and Hiro had actually been wearing identical outfits with their hitai-ates on their forehead, the tunics and pants completely intact. However, because Kushina kept confusing them due to them playing her by pretending to be the other, she got fed up and kindly... _adjusted_ their outfits a little, telling them _exactly_ what would happen if they would switch outfits while she's around... Especially since it's not like they actually use jutsu's which require them to look exactly alike. They always use a 'mirror reflection' technique.

Granted, this technique is mostly deception; letting the enemy believe that one is the real one and the other is a mere reflection. Unfortunately for them, this can still be done even with parts of their outfits missing. Surprisingly enough, their mom only laughed when she saw them and heard the explanation and didn't mind at _all_... Fuji is sure this has something to do with the fact that they love playing her as well.

He sighs as Obito does nothing but growl at him loudly and rolls his eyes. 'He's definitely the idiot of the team...' He thinks to himself, slightly annoyed. He doesn't really know how to deal with people like this without his brother around. Of course, he can annoy the Uchiha even _more_, but he doesn't want to cause a fight which will let other people hear him from miles away.

Fuji mainly specializes in healing as he has an excellent chakra control. Whenever someone of his own team gets hurt (mostly Shinra due to her lack of speed) he is with them in a flash, fixing them up. 'Maybe it'd have been better if I was with the 'genius' of their team... would've been nice to do some more research.' He thinks, shaking his head lightly.

When Kushina explained everything to them, he'd already known that he wouldn't be put together with Rin as the two of them are the healers. While that doesn't make them useless in battle, it would make them too much alike to create a good pair without being used to each other. They would not be a very effective team.

Fuji sighs, brushing his fringe out of his eyes. 'We are _so_ screwed...'

* * *

><p>Minato smiles slightly to himself as the time to prepare is up. He takes out a small paper bomb and throws it up in the air before shooting a kunai through it, causing it to make a small explosion in the sky.<p>

'That should do it.' He thinks, nodding to himself, before he's suddenly gone from his spot, deep into the part of the forest where he said he'd remain.

- Group 02 -

Kakashi's ears perk up at the sound of the bomb, eyes on the sky where the explosion was just a moment ago. "It's started, come on." He says to Shinra, figuring that the traps will keep whoever will try to find them busy.

"Seems like you're in a rush... Anyone you want to get to first?" Shinra questions, slouching slightly from where she's leaning against a tree.

"As a matter a fact, I do." Kakashi huffs softly, rolling his eyes. "I want to capture sensei."

"Huh..." Shinra tilts her head to the side slightly as she thinks this over. The other wants to go after one of the strongest ninja their village has to offer... The comment comes out before she even realizes it; "I didn't know you wanted to be out of the game this fast."

Kakashi's eye twitches before he turns as he can hear one of the traps go off, followed by a;

"DAMNIT!" Which sounds a bit _too_ familiar to his ears... 'Damnit, not now...' He thinks, seeing a flame come from a little away, most likely burning away the trap Obito was caught in. He sends a quick glare at Shinra. 'If she'd have just moved the moment I told her to move we wouldn't be held up like this...'

He can barely suppress a sigh as Obito comes running out of the bushes, sunlight bouncing off of his goggles, clothes slightly scorched from the trap he was caught in. "TEMEEEE!" He yells, diving straight at Kakashi in an attempt to catch the other.

Not even blinking, Kakashi steps aside, making Obito stumble and fall to the ground in the dirt. Glancing up briefly, Kakashi sees Shinra and Fuji merely standing there, before he has to step aside to dodge another attack.

'Completely useless.' He thinks, gritting his teeth lightly as Shinra still doesn't move from her spot.

"DAMNIT! STOP DODGING ME!" Obito yells, throwing himself at Kakashi once more who merely side steps the Uchiha... again.

Fuji and Shinra watch the game of 'catch and dodge' between the two members of team Minato, both leaning against a tree away from each other.

Fuji shifts his eyes to Shinra, noticing that she makes no move to rush into the battle. Of course, as he's her team member, this doesn't really surprise him much. He knows that Shinra is the type to wait for her opponent to get near before trapping them... hence why he's not moving.

Then you have Hatake Kakashi, someone who is said to be a genius; the best of their age group... Like _hell_ he's even going to _try_ to catch that one. He sighs, getting comfortable against the tree. He'll just stand and wait for Obito to win or something... and if he doesn't? Well, Fuji thinks this 'game' they're forced to play is pretty boring anyway, especially since no one mentioned a prize...

Kakashi scowls from underneath his mask, trying to get rid of Obito who seems pretty set on pouncing on him. "Oi..." He growls out.

"DAMNIT, KAKASHI! STOP DODGING ME AND FIGHT!" Obito yells, annoyed beyond believe as he gets up from the ground again.

'I should stop wasting time...' Kakashi thinks to himself, just as Obito jumps up and moves to dive at him again. Once more, Kakashi steps to his side, slightly surprised when Obito still dives straight at him. He'd thought Obito would never realize... However, Kakashi merely steps to the side once more, causing Obito to stumble straight towards Shinra who glances up.

"Whoa whoa whoa incomiiinggg!" Obito yells, trying to catch his balance.

Fuji smacks his own forehead with his hand just as Obito gets into Shinra's reach. 'Idiot.' He thinks, watching Shinra's skirt fly up slightly before stretching towards Obito and wrapping around the confused genin. The material pulls tightly around Obito, rendering him unable to move.

"Got you." Shinra comments, raising an eyebrow at Obito who finally seems to realize what just happened.

"Oi! That's no fair! Let me out! Let me out!" Obito starts to struggle, only causing the material to tighten.

"Unless you want to break some ribs... you may want to stop doing that." Shinra advises, shrugging lightly.

Obito growls before turning his head away from the redhead. "Fiiiine..." He mutters, a scowl on his face. "I give."

Shinra nods, the skirt unwrapping itself from Obito and falling down to her ankles gently. "Good." Is her only reply to the comment.

Fuji sighs softly, shaking his head lightly. He already finished they'd go down first... damned Obito wanting to go after Kakashi and Shinra first without even being able to give off a good enough reason except for 'I want to beat that Teme and make him pull down his mask as a sign of submission!'

Kakashi tilts his head at Shinra. "Let's go." he comments, not up for waiting even longer. Though, if he's honest to himself, he has to admit that he didn't think Shinra's capturing technique was _that_ effective...

Shinra nods and pushes herself off from the tree. She walks past Obito without another glance into his direction but she does nod as she passes him. "Bye."

"Bye." Fuji comments while lazily raising a hand in farewell before plopping down on the ground. He tilts his head back against the tree as he closes his eyes. 'Wonder how Hiro's doing...'

* * *

><p>Hiro barely manages to dodge the branch which is threatening to slap him in the face. "Geeze, pay a bit more attention, would you?" He complains, eying Rin's back with distrust quite clear in his face.<p>

Rin merely huffs at this as she moves forwards towards the bushes, pushing branches out of her way to create a path for herself. Hiro blocks yet another branch which she pushes away and which threatens to slap back into his face. "Oi, oi..." he comments, sweat dropping slightly. By now he's pretty sure the other is just doing this on purpose...

"Okay, we're about to enter Kakashi's part... This is where we'll most likely find Obito. But, knowing Kakashi, there are probably some traps around as well so we'll have to tread carefully." Rin comments, glancing back at Hiro for a split second before looking ahead of herself again.

She likes Obito, she really does. He's a great friend and he's pretty fun to hang out with when Kakashi isn't around, but... she knows fully well that the Uchiha is the first person they should take on. Not only is the other brash in the way he fights and easily predictably, but even though it's a bit mean to use his feelings like this, Rin also knows that his crush on her will keep him from accidently hurting her... meaning he won't really attack her, let alone with full force.

Hiro rolls his eyes. "Fun times. We'll either face my brother here or we'll face Shinra... so not funny." He huffs softly. "What if we'll run into Kaki and Shinra instead anyway?" He questions, tilting his head to the side.

Rin pauses for a moment as she thinks this over. "Then we go for Shinra. And it's _Kakashi_." She corrects Hiro, scowling lightly.

"Is Kaki _really_ as strong as they claim he is?" Hiro asks, not changing his way of naming the silver-haired chunin.

"Yes, _Kakashi_ is really as strong as they say he is... He's really cool, you know? Got chunin at a very early age... He'll make jounin soon."

"Hmm..." Hiro ponders this over for a little. "Are you saying this because it's true or are you saying this because your crush is blinding your view?" He raises an eyebrow at Rin's back.

"W-W-What are you saying!" Flustered, Rin stumbles a bit. However, this causes her to step on a thin wire and almost immediately a rain of kunai shower down on them.

"What the hell!" Hiro yells, jumping to the side. "Weren't we supposed to _not_ harm each other!"

Rin grits her teeth lightly, barely able to dodge the kunai but managing to get out of the trap unhurt. "Yeah... But if you look closely you can see that the kunai are blunt, so they wouldn't have done _too_ much damage." She comments, lowering her arms from where they were covering her head.

"Crap, those things can _really_ hit you in the wrong spots." Hiro scowls, shaking his head.

"Well, that much is true..." Rin muses before shrugging. "Well, Kakashi probably knew what he was doing, so... let's just stop talking about it and go."

"Of course, of course, since it's your precious Kaki who did it." Hiro scoffs, rolling his eyes, before walking past Rin and moving further into the forest. At least if he leads he won't get attacked by the backlash of branches...

"W-What's that supposed to mean!" Rin demands, hurrying up to keep up with the other.

"Nothing, nothing..." Hiro comments casually before coming to a stop. "Eh... We're too late." He points at a clearing where he can see his brother lean against a tree casually, looking at the sky, while Obito is sitting down on the ground and cursing as he punches the ground, obviously upset.

"Oh damnit... I thought we'd at least score some points..." Rin sighs before huffing softly. "Well, we'll just go after Kakashi and Shinra then..."

"Yeah." Hiro huffs softly.

* * *

><p>Shinra eyes Kakashi as the other stands still, looking around. "So..."<p>

"Shut up, he's around here somewhere." Kakashi scowls from underneath his mask, looking around the spot they're standing on. He could've sworn he felt his sensei around here... Then again, Minato is not known at the fastest ninja out of all the villages for no reason, so he could've gone to the other side of the forest while Kakashi blinked...

"Great." Shinra sighs, running a hand through her hair casually.

Kakashi sends her a quick glare before walking on again before stopping as he can't hear Shinra follow him. Looking back, he eyes her. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Shinra points at a direction in the forest, raising an eyebrow at Kakashi. "What do you think." She blanks lightly.

It's only then that Kakashi senses it; the chakra signatures of Rin and Hiro. 'How did she notice before m-... Does that mean she knew Sensei wasn't here ages ago and let me look around in vain, wasting time!'

Though that thought doesn't sit well with him, Kakashi doesn't take too long to ponder over it as he dodges a few of his blunt kunai which are being thrown at him from the bushes. 'Damnit.' He thinks, seeing Hiro dart out from the bushes. Unlike with Obito, he doesn't quite know how this one fights... 'Whatever, I can take him.' He braces himself for an attack, only to fall surprised when Hiro goes straight past him and heads towards Shinra. 'Crap, he's fast. This is bad.' He thinks, eyes widening slightly.

Indeed it is, because it seems to be quite easy for Hiro to dodge Shinra's skirt, managing to stay outside of the trap it is. Shinra's jaw tightens lightly as she dodges to the side, avoiding an attack, the skirt moving after her... however, it seems like this has been Hiro's plan from the start.

Instead of the skirt dancing around her ankles as she moves like it should, the green material is trapped against the tree with kunai. Realizing this too late, Shinra winces lightly as she hears a rip before a great tear is in her skirt, a big part of the skirt still trapped against the tree, ripped straight off and revealing the black knee-length tights she's wearing under it. 'Damnit.' She thinks, moving away from the tree some more.

"Heh... There goes the biggest disadvantage." Hiro smirks, twirling a kunai around in his hand.

'Can she even _do_ more.' Kakashi scowls. Considering the fact that most ninja who have attacks based on trapping opponents generally have very basic attacks apart from this he figures that he should win soon if he doesn't want to lose...

He easily jumps aside, dodging an attack from Rin. Now here is someone he's actually familiar with... A plan easily forms in his head as he moves to dodge the blunt kunai Rin throws at him. 'Hold on... Maybe this will work...'

He pretends to keep his eyes on Shinra and Hiro until the kunai is close to him and dodges a bit too late which causes the kunai to scrape past his arm. He hisses, clutching the scrape with his other hand. "Ah..." He winces, seemingly in pain.

Rin gasps, her eyes widening. "Oh my God, Kakashi! Are you okay! Here, I'll heal it right away before it gets infected!" She runs towards her, truly worried over accidently having hurt Kakashi. However, when she's close enough, Kakashi's hand darts out and locks around her wrist. "Got you."

It takes Rin a few moments to realize what just happened, but when Kakashi moves his hand from the scrape her eyes widen. "You tricked me!" She cries out, a bit hurt that the other would use her like this. "I was really worried about you and you tricked me!"

Kakashi shrugs, releasing his hold on her. "That's what ninja's do... they deceive people." He comments, straightening up before looking over to see if Shinra didn't get captured before he captured Rin.

He's a bit surprised that Shinra is still holding her ground. It seems like neither her nor Hiro noticed that the battle has already ended. Rin, still annoyed, moves to tell them, but Kakashi places his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "This is a good opportunity to find out more about them."

Though she'd like to call out anyway just in spite, Rin does agree that Kakashi is right and watches the two.

"Shadow clone!" Hiro calls out, making the sign with his hand which causes several clones to appear around him, all of them running at Shinra fast. Rin's eyes widen. For someone who comes across to be as annoying and perhaps useless as Hiro, she didn't think he'd actually know a technique of that level.

"Shadow clone." Shinra scoffs, making the sign as well. Kakashi's eye twitches lightly. 'Just what does Kushina teach them...' He huffs softly, sitting back. Well, he's fought people who use the kage bunshin technique more often, that's not really reason to worry...

Though Shinra's clones manage to hold up a few of Hiro's clones, a few still manage to get through the line of defense she's built, charging straight at her. She slams her palms on the ground. "Earth style wall." The ground shakes, effectively making a few of the clones (both Hiro's and her own) topple down and disappear in a puff of smoke before a high wall raises, making Hiro's other clones crash into it and disappear.

"Hiding like a mole." Shinra comments, making the signs just as he clones do this before disappearing into the ground, reappearing around Hiro and grabbing onto him, rendering him immobile.

"Heh, I love it when you touch me allll over." Hiro snickers, shaking his head lightly.

Shinra rolls her eyes. "Get real." She huffs, letting go of Hiro as her clones disappear. She tenses up slightly and looks around.

Kakashi looks up at seeing a yellow flash. "Look o-"

But it's too late. Already, Shinra is grabbed by her waist and hoisted up, hanging under Minato's arm. "Nicely done, you two, nicely done~ Still need some work, though." He praises, smiling at Shinra and Kakashi.

Shinra huffs softly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Cheater..." She mutters.

Kakashi huffs before charging at Minato as well, but the blonde teacher merely chuckles. Before anyone can even blink, Kakashi is hoisted under Minato's other arm. "Now, now, Kakashi. You have already lost, you know?" Minato tuts lightly, smiling at the chunin.

Kakashi scoffs, crossing his arms over each other as well. "I hope you won't carry your kid like this, sensei." He huffs softly.

Minato blinks before laughing. "No, no, no. But for now, it seems that I've won, doesn't it?" He smiles.

"Wrong." Two arms snake around him as Kushina hugs him from behind. "I won." She smiles, placing her chin onto Minato's shoulder.

Minato chuckles softly, putting Kakashi and Shinra down on the ground. "Seems like you have..." He looks back, noticing that Kushina brought Obito and Fuji with her. Obito is grinning, obviously cheered up from losing after having seen Kakashi captured that easily.

"Well, let's go to the prize that the number one chunin team gets." Minato announces, making Fuji perk up. If he'd known there was a prize he'd have actually participated in this thing! Damnit...

Kakashi and Shinra looks up at Minato and Kushina interestedly. The two teachers are smiling slightly as they glance at each other, almost as if sharing a mutual joke. This causes the two to be a bit cautious...

"Well, I brought these rings from a mission some time ago... They're highly valued, actually. Not many exist in the world... Hold out your hands." Minato instructs as he digs around in his pocket.

Kakashi and Shinra eye each other for a brief second before looking up at Minato and holding out their hands. Minato slips rings around both their ring fingers. The rings are pretty plain, made of some sort of metal. They glow slightly before the light dims in them.

"Erm... What do they do, exactly?" Kakashi asks, feeling apprehensive about the glowing while Shinra looks the ring over. She's a bit more confused that the rings actually fit them...

"Well, as I said they are very rare rings I once brought with me from a mission... They store some of your chakra, which is what the light was about. Don't take them off at any time... they might just save your lives once, you know?" Minato smiles at them.

"Oi, sensei! Why does that Teme get a cool item like that!" Obito cries out.

"Because he won the match." Minato shrugs. "Even if it was all about learning how to work together and they didn't work together at all..." He sighs softly.

"Then they shouldn't get the rings." Fuji huffs softly. "Since they didn't fulfill the actual goal." He points out.

"None of you worked together." Kushina sighs, shaking her head. "Well, I guess this just means we'll have you interact some more..."

There is only one thought going through the heads of every student involved; 'God, no...'

* * *

><p><em>Well, as some of you might realize I put it better descriptions of Kushina's team in this chapter... and this chapter is also a lot longer than the previous one [by 8 pages no less...] but yeah. I would like to make a note that I have a drawing on Shinra on the DA which is linked on my profile page under homepage, for all the people who might be interested. The pictures of the genin will be up there soon...<em>


	3. What comes around Goes around

**.3. What comes around... Goes around**

* * *

><p>Kushina smiles faintly, curling up to her husband on the couch as Minato wraps an arm around her. "Last week's team battle seemed to have done Shinra well... She's talking a little bit more again." She notes, closing her eyes as she folds her hands on her swollen belly. Though it's not too big yet, it's definitely tiering to walk around while carrying a child and she can't do any missions; only train her team.<p>

"Oh? That's good." Minato notes. He's slightly disappointed that Kakashi is still the same as ever, since that was his original goal; to make Kakashi into a happy-go-lucky chunin like Obito... well, maybe not _that_happy, but at least a little cheerful.

"Yeah, we should do something together again." Kushina muses, burying her face into Minato's shoulder. "Maybe go somewhere together, you know?" She points out, shrugging lightly.

"Hm... I guess we could. Sure sounds like fun." Minato chuckles, tightening his hold on his wife slightly. Who is he to pass on more time with Kushina during 'work time' anyway? Speaking of work time... He groans softly, tilting his head back. "I forgot... I said I'd pick up some herbs from the forest for Sarutobi-sama... Aparently they only grow around twilight or something..." He sighs.

"Oh." Kushina blinks, leaning away from Minato. "Then you should go and get them." She points out, raising an eyebrow.

Minato smiles at her, already missing her warmth against his side. "Don't worry, dear. I'll be back in a flash."

She chuckles as her husband is suddenly gone. "I'm counting on that, darling..." She gets up from the couch. "I should start on dinner..."

* * *

><p>Kakashi grunts softly, punching the tree a few more times as he watches the crack become bigger and bigger. 'Still not strong enough...' he notes, scowling underneath his mask as he punches the tree again.<p>

His stomach clenches slightly, complaining over not having been fed, but he doesn't pay any attention to it just yet. It'll be dark soon which means he'll stop training soon... His stomach can last just fine until then...

Minato spots him from the distance and smiles slightly to himself. 'That Kakashi... I should say hi.' He thinks, already preparing himself to move to his prized student before stopping short as he notices another figure approach from the distance. 'Hold on... Isn't that...?' He quickly ducks behind a tree before starting to sneak closer. 'This should be good...'

* * *

><p>Kakashi looks up as he feels someone approach him, though the waist length red hair easily tips him off as to who it is. "Yes?" She comments blankly, wondering what Shinra is doing here. He's never seen her around this part of the forest before since Kushina's team generally trains somewhere else.<p>

"Hmm... Kakashi..." Shinra murmurs, coming to a stop in front of Kakashi and tilting her head to the side. "I never really believed you were as strong as they all said you were until I actually saw you when we teamed up..."

"Thanks, I guess..." Kakashi shrugs, going back to training, though he falters slightly at Shinra's next words;

"I think I've fallen for you."

"Erm... Alright?" He shakes his head lightly, not completely sure how to reply. He knows there are plenty of people who have a 'crush' on him even though he's pretty sure he's never met a single one of them. However, most people are too intimidated by the rumors of his strength so someone actually approaching him and telling him face-to-face is a bit new to him... He eyes her for a bit before shaking his head again. 'Okay...'

"I'm serious." Shinra huffs softly, grabbing Kakashi's arm and tugging him lightly so he faces her. "I really have."

"Eh..." 'Did she eat something weird?' Kakashi thinks, tugging his arm loose. He takes a few steps away from Shinra, continuing his training on the next tree.

"Hmm..." Shinra seems to ponder for a bit. "Let me trap you in my skirt." She smiles before winking at Kakashi.

Kakashi stiffens, faltering slightly in his punches. 'Did she just-!'

From behind another tree, Minato grins broadly as he punches the air with his fist ever so lightly. 'Whoo! Wait until I tell Kushina this! She'll be soooo- ... hold on. This chakra signature...Isn't this...? Oh. Oh crap. Oh no. Oh oh ohhhh...!' His eyes widen slightly in panic as he looks around himself wildly. 'Oh craapppp!'

Shinra moves closer to Kakashi. "Can I?" She murmurs softly, reaching out to pull Kakashi's mask down as she moves her face closer to Kakashi's, most likely to steal a kiss from the other. 'Can... almost... see...'

Kakashi's eye twitches lightly, grabbing her wrist. "Two things..." He can't believe he was fooled so easily... "One... Where is the mole on your right cheek?"

He can see Shinra's expression change to one of panic, crimson eyes shifting around. 'Oh crap.'

"Second... Where is the ring we got from sensei, hm?" Kakashi raises an eyebrow at 'Shinra', sending 'her' a pretty flat look.

'Shinra' gulps softly. "Oh shit." 'she' squeaks in a voice which resembles Obito's voice _way_too much... In a poof of smoke, Obito changes back to himself, using the smoke to get free from Kakashi's grip. Byt the time the smoke lifts, you can see Obito run off in the distance, anxious to get away from Kakashi.

Kakashi stares for a second before his eyebrow twitches. "Summon!" A few ninja pups jump out of the scroll he just unrolled before running after Obito. Moments later, you can hear Obito cry out; "DON'T BITE ME _THERE_!"

* * *

><p>Minato poofs into his livingroom, eyes darting around wildly.<p>

"Oh, welcome back, that was fast." Kushina greets, poking her head out of the kitchen. "So, did you get all the herbs?"

Minato blinks, looking down at his hands which are holding an empty basket. 'Oh crap.'

* * *

><p>A few days later, team Minato gathers again for training. Kakashi moves to Minato who's waiting for everyone.<p>

"Ah, Kakashi. Early as always, aren't you?" Minato smiles at him.

"Of course." Kakashi shrugs lightly. "Though I have a question for you, sensei... were you in on it?"

Minato blinks, confusion on his face. "In on what, Kakashi?"

"I felt your chakra signature in the forest." Kakashi points out.

For a moment, inner Minato panics, but the outer Minato simply smiles. "Oh, you mean the date you had with Shinra?"

Kakashi's eyes widen ever so slightly. "Date? Sensei, there was no date."

Minato laughs softly, patting Kakashi's head. "No need to be embarassed, Kakashi. It's only natural for people who like each other to date. Besides, there's nothing wrong with boys your age to be interested in the opposite gender... It's all normal, hormones and such, you know? Actually I was a bit worried that you were actually a late bloomer..."

"Ano, sensei..." Kakashi tries to interrupt Minato, but to no avail.

"Has anyone ever told you about the kunai and the shuriken? I mean, I can tell you, you know? _Someone_ has to make sure you date a woman _safely_. I mean, you don't want to be a father at this age, right? You'll have plenty of time to create your own little team of genin in about ten years and all that, right? Take your time and date someone, then marry, _then_think about having kids..."

"S-Senseeeiiii..." Kakashi whines slightly, slowly turning bright red as his eyes widen some more bit by bit.

Minato smiles and pats Kakashi's head. 'Safe...' He thinks. "Kakashi, you _do_realise your mask doesn't cover your ears, right?" He comments, slightly amused at seeing Kakashi's bright red ears.

Kakashi groans, burying his face into his hands. 'This can't be happening to me...' Though, he figures that Minato thinking he had a _date_ is better then his teacher knowing he got tricked by _Obito_of all people...

He can honestly say that he's never been as happy about Rin and Obito interrupting his alone time with Minato as he is now...

* * *

><p>After a bit of chatting with each other and Minato explaining a new technique to the team, Kakashi, Obito and Rin are able to train as they please. Rin goes off to a tree to train the new technique on her own, knowing that Obito will just keep Kakashi occupied anyway while Minato stands back to keep an eye on his team.<p>

Obito snarls at Kakashi, crouching down slightly. "I'll get you for sending those dogs after me..."

Kakashi scoffs, slugging lightly. "I created a new technique _just_ for you... As a thank you of _assisting me with my training_that day..."

Obito blinks. "For me?" He blinks a few more times. Kakashi has _never_ created a technique, simply to send it at _him_... He actually feels a little honored...

"Oh yes... Ah, but before I start... Should you ever, _ever_tell anyone about what happened there... then this technique will be a walk in the park compared to the one I'll use on you then..."

"Heh, like you can hit me." Obito grins lightly, preparing his hand to make some seals.

Kakashi smirks from under his mask before suddenly appearing behind Obito. "A thousand years of death!"

Obito's pained cry as he flies off is enough to make Kakashi believe that the technique was a success...  
>Kakashi huffs softly, crossing his arms over his chest. 'I should quickly complete my <em>Chidori<em>in case he spills the beans..

* * *

><p><em>Just a small filler which I personally found pretty amusing to write. The next chapter is going to be a long one again, hence why you can nom on this one to keep your mind satisfied... Not sure yet if I'm going to put the next chapter up in one part or in two... all depends on the amount of pages I get in the end.<em>


	4. The Festival Part 1

_Alright, the next chapter is up! A slight warning in advance... OOC doesn't even cut what I did to Minato ¤sweatdrop¤. Minato and sugar DONT mix... ever.  
>I have decided to put replies to ano reviews at the end of the chapter as there was a question in them as well, so this way I'll at least be able to answer. Enjoy! n.n<em>

* * *

><p><strong>.4. The Festival pt. 1<strong>

* * *

><p>The people of Konoha have been happily chatting about it for weeks now; the yearly Konohagakure Festival has finally begun. For three days straight there will be games and parties to celebrate the day on which Konoha has been founded, for three days straight everyone will forget who their enemies are and be friends with everyone bright smiles on everyone's lips... or so it's <em>supposed<em>to be.

Kakashi huffs softly as he follows after Minato, making his way through the crowded town's square as he attempts not to lose his teacher. He supposes he should be grateful towards the blonde; ever since Kakashi's father had killed himself, Minato has been the one taking Kakashi to the festival each and every year, not skipping out even once.

He sighs softly, keeping his eyes on his teacher's back. But, of course, he'd rather be at home, practicing his jutsus in peace... especially since everyone always seems to preoccupied around this time to actually bother him.

Minato's eyes seem to brighten as he spots the red hair belonging to his wife in the distance. "Look, there she is." He comments, nudging Kakashi's shoulder lightly before steering the other towards where Kushina is waiting for them.

Kakashi shakes his head lightly. The three of them are always walking around together, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Kakashi can't really help but wonder if this will change after the Namikaze junior gets born... He blinks slowly upon seeing a second redhead next to Kushina, this one being Shinra.

For a moment as their eyes meet, Kakashi feels slightly uncomfortable before shaking his head. 'Damn you Obito... Sensei...' He scowls slightly, forcing the alien feeling away. He doesn't even _like_her that way, so why did he have to go through such embarrassing moments anyway? He faintly notes that Shinra seems to be wearing a similar skirt to what she wore before it got ripped by Hiro, but with a few modifications. Now, the skirt doesn't simply have a cut at the front as it had before, the skirt seems to be made of straps of the green material now; definitely more handy.

"Okay, we're all complete now." Minato grins, coming to a stop before wrapping his arm around Kushina's waist before pecking his wife's cheek. Kushina bringing along Shinra had actually been his idea. This way he could focus on his wife some more while the kids could keep each other busy~~ ...or so he hopes, at least.

"Yes, we are." Kushina smiles, nodding slightly. "So let's see... How about starting off with some cotton candy?" She suggests, pointing at a small stall up ahead.

"That seems like a _great_idea!" Minato grins brightly at the thought of sugar, before getting distracted by the calls of;

"Sensei! Kakashi!"

With a small blink, Minato looks back while Kakashi looks into the direction of the sound boredly.

Rin is waving cheerfully while Obito seems to sulk over Rin having spotted Kakashi. Their parents are chatting behind them, the six of them being a complete group. However, after a few words from Rin, the parents smile and either kiss or pat their kids' heads before Rin starts to run towards her teacher and teammate, dragging Obito along, while the parents move on again.

"We're joining too!" Rin says, smiling brightly at Minato who chuckles and nods.

"I noticed." The blonde says with a smile before glancing at Kushina.

Kushina nods, smiling, the action being enough to indicate that she doesn't really mind.

"Eh?" Obito blinks, pointing at Shinra. "Where are the annoying twins anyway?" He asks, eyes shifting around lightly as if he expects them to pop out from nowhere and kidnap his darling Rin.

"They're walking with their parents, I guess..." Shinra shrugs lightly. Well, it's either that or on their own; she's never seen the two around on the festival days anyway, for all she knows they could be going one of the other days.

Obito barely manages to suppress a sigh of relieve before gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes at Kakashi. "TEME! I will not lose to you in the games, you hear!"

Kakashi rolls his eyes before shrugging. "I doubt there's a single game around you can beat me in..." He scoffs lightly.

"You're on!" Obito cries out, stomping his foot on the ground angrily.

"Hey, hey... Don't argue while we're at the festival..." Rin interrupts, standing in between the two. "So... what are we going to do?" She asks, looking up at Kushina and Minato.

"We were going to get cotton candy." Minato smiles.

"... You too, sensei?" Rin asks carefully.

"But of course." Minato smiles at the brunette. "Now, all of you can wait right here while I go get them. I'll be back in a flash." He winks before tossing a kunai near the cotton candy stand and disappearing.

Kushina sighs, shaking her head lightly. She loves her husband, really, but sometimes he's _such _a show off... and he just _really_wants to get to sugar related things fast. She looks around for things they can do after receiving the cotton candy before smiling as her eyes land on a specific tent. 'That seems like fun...'

A few seconds later, Minato is standing there again with several sticks of cotton candy in his arms. He gives one to Rin and Obito and one to Kakashi and Shinra before handing his wife her own stick. Of course, it's not like he doesn't want or doesn't have the money to give all the kids their own sticks, but the fluffs of sugar are simply too big for the kids to handle without stomach aches later on if they decide to get more food...

"Let's go there next." Kushina points at the tent she spotted. The sign next to the star covered tent says; _Fortune Teller_.

Rin giggles softly, plucking a small piece of cotton candy from the stick. "Seems like fun." She can't wait to get her fortune told... surely the fortune teller will comment on how well she and Kakashi fit each other, right?

Then, do you want to go first?" Kushina asks her, smiling slightly.

Rin nods as the moves closer to the tent. Fortunately the line to the tent is short as most people prefer to visit places like this later in the night after having a drink or two. After a short wait, Rin finally steps inside the tent, the scent of incense hitting her nose. The tent is dark, lightened only by a few candles, and at a small table which has nothing but a crystal ball, an aged woman dressed in robes is seated. "Come further, my child." The woman speaks, a kind smile on her lips.

Rin hastily makes her way to the table, sitting down on the chair opposite the woman. "Hello." She greets.

"So, you're here for your future..." The woman murmurs, brushing her hands over her crystal ball, her white hair pulled back in a tight bun and her dark green eyes staring into the depths of the ball, seeing things that Rin isn't really seeing...

"Ohhh~" The woman crones out as Rin anxiously waits. "This is your lucky day, m'dear." The woman smiles at her. "I foresee love in your path."

"R-Really?" Rin stammers lightly, eyes widening slightly. 'I knew it!'

"Yes, yes... You will be showered with presents today, all of them coming from a great admirer."

"Whoa..." Rin blinks before grinning brightly. "Thanks!" She giggles, standing up.

"You're very welcome, m'dear." The woman smiles at her as she watches Rin exit.

"And? Was it a good fortune?" Minato smiles a tad too brightly at Rin as she exits.

Rin nods happily. "Mm-hmm!"

"Oh! Me next, me next!" Obito bounces lightly as Rin takes the cotton candy from him before the Uchiha all but runs inside. 'She's totally gonna tell me I'll pulverize that Teme today!' Obito thinks to himself before greeting the woman.

"Hello, why don't you sit down?" The woman offers, smiling at Obito.

"Kay." Obito grins, sitting down before waiting for his fortune.

The woman nods lightly before staring at her crystal ball as she had done before. "Ah... You should be on the lookout, boy. Someone is out to get y-"

Obito jumps up, effectively cutting off the fortune teller who looks at him surprised. "TEMEEEE!" He yells, running out of the tent, ready to pounce on Kakashi and to attack the other.

Kakashi blinks, slightly surprised even though he makes sure not to actually show it. 'What the hell did that person tell the idiot.' He thinks, watching Minato wrap an arm around Obito to keep him away from Kakashi.

"Now, now, be nice, be nice~" The blonde happily comments.

Kushina shakes her head lightly as Obito keeps cursing and growling, still trying to get to Kakashi who's just standing there boredly, holding the cotton candy in between himself and Shinra. "Would you like to go next?" She asks, smiling at Shinra.

"I guess..." Shinra shrugs lightly before calmly making her way into the tent.

The fortune teller smiles a tad strained at her, hearing Obito scream outside her tent. "Welcome, child, welcome. For your fortune, hm?"

"I guess..." Shinra repeats her earlier words as she casually plops down on the seat.

The fortune teller can barely help the sweatdrop starting to appear at the side of her face before looking at the crystal ball again. "Oh... Ohhh... You have a future befitting of a ninja, I see." She chuckles softly. "Today, you will get the chance to hone some of your most basic ninja skills and to win a great prize..." The woman smiles.

"Alright." Shinra murmurs, getting up again.

"Ah, not interested in hearing more?" The fortune teller asks, slightly put off that Shinra already stands up.

"Not really..." Shinra comments. "Bye." She walks out of the tent again.

"And?" Kushina asks her as Shinra steps out again.

"It was alright, I guess..." Shinra muses, noticing that Obito is standing next to Rin again, holding the cotton candy once more. He seems to be grumbling over something while Rin keeps sneaking glances at Kakashi.

"Okay! Next up is you, Kakashi!" Minato grins, all but shoving Kakashi into the tent.

Kakashi stumbles lightly, not actually having expected the 'attack' from his teacher. He scrunches up his nose slightly at the smell of incense, glad that his mask is blocking out most of it. With a small sigh of defeat he plops down on the seat opposite the fortune teller. "Fine... bring it." He mutters, finding it more interesting to look at the pink cotton candy he's holding then to look at the woman.

The fortune teller shakes her head slightly. 'People today...' She can't help but think before looking at her crystal ball. "Ohhh... Ohohoho..." She chuckles softly. "Looks like someone is playing match maker..."

"You don't say..." Kakashi sighs softly, rolling his eyes up so he can stare at the top of the tent. Of course he's noticed Minato's none-too-subtle attempts... Doesn't mean the guy will actually succeed...

"Ah, there is love on your path~"

"Erm, no there isn't."

"Why yes there is..."

"No there is not..."

The fortune teller narrows her eyes slightly. "Alright, _young man_!" She huffs softly, straightening up ever so slightly. "I am a fortune teller... it is my _job_ to know the future and I might even say that I do it _well_. So! If I say there is going to be love in your future, then there is _going to be love in your future_, you got that!"

Kakashi snorts softly, standing up. "I can't believe you actually get paid for this charade..." He comments before turning and walking off, leaving a seething fortune teller in his wake.

"And?" Minato questions, looking at Kakashi.

"She's a quack." Kakashi huffs, moving back to Shinra again so that she can take a small piece of the cotton candy.

"Don't be so mean, Kakashi~" Minato chuckles before bouncing inside.

"Hey, you're not supposed to bring cotton candy in there." Kushina calls after him, though it's unheard. Of course, she didn't comment on Kakashi entering with the candy, but the poor boy was pushed inside before she could comment...

All the anger the fortune teller had before disappears almost immediately upon seeing Konoha's Yellow Flash enter her small tent. "Welcome, Minato-san." She comments, smiling at the bonde.

"Hi, hi!" Minato greets cheerfully, plopping down on the seat before taking another bite of his cotton candy.

The fortune teller brushes her fingers over her crystal ball once more, the smile still on her lips. Just wait until she tells her grandchildren who came into her tent today... "I see..."

"Do you see my son!"

"Well, erm, I can't-"

"Will he look like me!"

"Why, I don't think that-"

"Will he be strong!"

"Sir, I-"

"Thank you very much!" Minato grins, happily jumping up. Without noticing, he accidently drops his cotton candy onto the crystal ball before bouncing out. "WHOOHOO!"

Kushina sighs, walking into the tent to see a distraught fortune teller look up at her. "Ah, don't worry about my future... I'm just here to pick up this." She comments, picking up the cotton candy. "Sorry about this all." She bows lightly before walking out.

Seeing her beloved crystal ball which she has worked with for well over 20 years covered in sticky sugary substance is a tad too much for the fortune teller who starts to sob in a corner. Needless to say, there shall be no more fortunes told for the next few hours...

"Minato, darling... You forgot this." Kushina comments, holding her husband's cotton candy.

"Oh!" Minato grins brightly, reaching for the candy, only to get it shoved into his face by Kushina who huffs.

Shinra, who has been pretty quiet so far, can't help the question which has been haunting her for a little while now... "...Is he even supposed to have sugar?" She questions, raising an eyebrow at Minato.

Rin sighs, shaking her head as she throws up her hands. "Nope..."

"You'll get used to it." Kakashi comments casually.

"Damnit, Kakashi-teme! Stop ignoring me!"

"Just as you'll get used to ignoring _that_." Kakashi takes a small piece of cotton candy which is gone in a flash, no one having noticed the mask lowering even the slightest.

"I see..." Shinra murmurs before shaking her head lightly. 'Should've stayed in bed today...'

About 15 minutes later in which Kushina has taken pity on her pouting husband and helped him clean his face and blonde hair which has turned sticky from the cotton candy. Obito has finally calmed down from his outburst towards Kakashi thanks to some prodding from Rin and by now the small group is moving through the crowded streets.

Kushina glances down at Shinra, slightly worried over how quiet this one has been the entire time and wondering if it's because her own team members aren't around. Maybe her chunin feels a little alienated in what with team Minato around... Though she doesn't mind them around, Obito and Rin were not accounted for after all.

Kushina pulls to a stop before crouching down slightly so she's at eye-level with Shinra. "Would you like a fish?" she questions, pointing at a small stall where a man is seated, several tanks filled with fish in front of him which are to be caught with small paper loops.

"Eh, sure..." Shinra replies, shrugging lightly. Again, Kushina can't help the pang of worry. Before losing her parents, Shinra had been a _lot_happier after all.

Minato grins at these words before pushing Kakashi forwards slightly. "I bet Kakashi will be good at that game!" He offers the boy up who has to try his hardest not to glare at the blonde who is still running around on a sugar-high.

Kakashi's attention is pulled by Obito rushing to the stand and starting to play the game, easily catching a few fishes with only one of the paper rings. Without another word the silver haired chunin makes his way to the stall, waiting for Minato to drop some coins into the vendor's hand before he accepts a ring and crouches down.

Kakashi's eyes narrow slightly as he eyes a fish which is moving around slowly, just minding its own business, before making a sweeping motion with the ring... only to have it break. He blinks slowly. Surely there is no way... Obito managed to catch four of the fishes before his ring finally broke, surely _Kakashi_ could catch at least _five_...?

With a small scowl which is hidden by his mask, Kakashi demands a new ring before trying again, once more with the same result. By now, his eyebrow is twitching as Obito happily sweeps up fish number seven, a grin of victory on his face.

'That's it...' Kakashi's eyebrow twitches a little more. 'This is _war_...' And thus the planning and strategizing starts...

Nearly half an hour later after which Minato's wallet is quite a bit lighter, Kakashi is finally holding out a plastic bag with a small fish in it out to Shinra. "Here." He comments shortly.

"Eh, thanks..." Shinra reaches out and takes the bag from Kakashi who merely huffs softly, glaring at the game. Surely Obito had cheated at it somehow... After all, the Uchiha simply stopped after catching 12 fishes, partly because Kushina commented that he'd render the uncomfortable looking vendor out of business.

"Ha! Not only did I catch _more_fishes, but mine are also bigger!" Obito grins, pointing at Kakashi. He won, he won, he won! 'BOOYAH, TEME!'

Kakashi merely snorts, rolling his eyes. "Since your fishes are bigger, it also means they're older... which means they'll die faster. That said, where the hell are you planning to keep them all?" He huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Eh..." Obito blinks slowly. Suddenly, his victory doesn't really feel like a victory anymore. "Whatever, teme! I caught them for Rin anyway!"

Upon receiving a glare from his wife, Minato steps in between the two, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. "There, there... No more fighting, you two. Alright?" He comments, smiling. "You both did your best and that's what counts, isn't it?"

With a small huff, both Kakashi and Obito nod reluctantly. Minato smiles, patting their shoulders lightly before stepping back.

Obito turns to Rin. "So, eh... I caught them for you..." He smiles slightly, suddenly a bit shy.

Rin blinks before smiling. "Thanks, Obito." Then she scratches her cheek. "But... twelve? I don't think I'll be able to have more than three."

"Oh, eh... Sensei! You'll get a few fishes too!" Obito grins, pointing at Minato.

Minato chuckles, patting Obito's head once more. "Thank you, Obito."

"Well, let's move on, shall we?" Kushina smiles at them all. There is a bit of a struggle in picking up all the fishes Obito caught, but a few yellow flashes later, all the fishes are at the houses of the people they're supposed to go to.

"So... next up we should go to-" Kushina starts only to be cut off by Obito.

"Ha! Kakashi! Wanna bet that I can beat you at that game!" Obito grins, pointing at a random game stall.

Kakashi snorts softly. "Hardly..." He comments dryly.

"Erm, guys..." Rin tries to interfere, only to be ignored as the two guys start to move towards the stall, both of them eager to proof the other wrong.

Minato chuckles softly, shaking his head. 'Well, this is the perfect place for those two to unleash their rivalry...' He thinks to himself, watching as Kakashi beats Obito by several points, only to have the vendor stuff a slightly bigger plushie into his arms then the one being pressed into Obito's.

Obito huffs softly before blushing slightly as he holds it out to Rin. "Here..." He comments, smiling slightly at her.

"Er, thanks..." Rin comments, taking the plushie. However, even as she does this, her eyes are trained on the plushie in Kakashi's arms.

Kakashi sweatdrops, feeling a bit awkward to be standing there with the plushie of the unicorn in his hands. Obviously, if he'll give it to Rin, she'll get the wrong idea... He could give it to Minato and Kushina for the little one on the way, but they seem a bit too convinced that it'll be a guy so a unicorn would leave a bad impression. Kakashi himself doesn't really want to be found walking around with the damned thing. Which leaves...

He stops in front of Shinra. "... Do you like plushies?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at her.

Shinra blinks before nodding. "Yeah..."

"Here you go."

Slight surprise can be read on Shinra's face as Kakashi holds out the plushie towards her before she takes it with a small nod, hugging it to her chest. "Thanks..."

"No problem." Kakashi shrugs, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Minato and Kushina can barely suppress squealing at the sight (though Minato's squeal would be caused by the amount of sugar he's consumed) while you can see Rin's face fall ever so slightly in the background.

"Ah, don't worry, Rin! You have a plushie as well!" Obito comments, waving his arms wildly as he tries to cheer up his brunette teammate.

"Yeah..." She sighs softly.

Obito narrows his eyes lightly at Kakashi before pointing at him. "Teme! I'll win Rin the biggest plushie on this festival and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Kakashi snorts softly, rolling his eyes. "Bring it on." He comments lazily.

And thus starts the battle between the two of them, competing at nearly every stall they pass as they walk around. Slowly but surely the amount of plushies Obito hands to Rin and the amount Kakashi hands to Shinra start to grow, until their arms are completely loaded with them.

"Alright, guys... that's enough." Kushina says at one point when she sees the girls struggling to hold all the plushies without dropping a single one. Minato takes a few of the plushies from them, trying to be helpful, at which he gets a few murmured but well meant 'thank you's.

Kakashi shrugs at Kushina's declaration while Obito scowls. It's obvious to see that Shinra's pile contains more big plushies then Rin's pile does.

'Now I know what the fortune teller said with getting buried under gifts...' Rin thinks to herself, sweatdropping.

* * *

><p><em>Here for the replies to the anonymous reviews~<em>

**Lovegaara** - Thank you for reviewing up until now, and sorry now is the first time I'm replying. The thing that set me to replying to ano's the most is the fact that you asked a question... can't let that go unanswered, right? n.n  
>You asked if I intended to make Kakashi and Shinra go out, to which the answer is no. This fic is mostly build around Kakashi and Shinra getting to know each other and Minato and Kushina attempting to get them to befriend each other. However, in the future I may write another fic in which I might pair them up.<p>

**narutofan** - Thank you very much for your reviews n.n. I'm glad that you find the team interesting and that you liked the battles. It was actually one of my first battle scenes, haha. It's good that the last chapter amused you, it was meant to be a funny filler n.n.


	5. The Festival Part 2

**.5. The Festival pt. 2  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>Obito narrows his eyes lightly at Kakashi before pointing at him. "Teme! I'll win Rin the biggest plushie on this festival and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"<em>

Kakashi snorts softly, rolling his eyes. "Bring it on." He comments lazily.

And thus starts the battle between the two of them, competing at nearly every stall they pass as they walk around. Slowly but surely the amount of plushies Obito hands to Rin and the amount Kakashi hands to Shinra start to grow, until their arms are completely loaded with them.

"Alright, guys... that's enough." Kushina says at one point when she sees the girls struggling to hold all the plushies without dropping a single one. Minato takes a few of the plushies from them, trying to be helpful, at which he gets a few murmured but well meant 'thank you's.

Kakashi shrugs at Kushina's declaration while Obito scowls. It's obvious to see that Shinra's pile contains more big plushies then Rin's pile does.

'Now I know what the fortune teller said with getting buried under gifts...' Rin thinks to herself, sweat dropping.

* * *

><p>"Alright, kids. Time for a break." Kushina chuckles, looking at Minato's two glaring chunin. "Why don't we all sit down and rest our feet for a few minutes, alright?" She suggests, sitting down at one of the tables before stretching out her legs in front of her.<p>

Within seconds Minato is by her side. "Would you like anything to drink, dear?" He asks, wondering if today has been a bit too much for his wife.

"That would be nice, darling." Kushina smiles at the blonde before Minato speeds off.

Obito is about to object to the break before quieting down. He'd completely forgotten, but his teacher's wife carries a bit of extra weight... With a small huff he plops down at the table as well, same as with Kakashi, Rin and Shinra. The plushies piled on top of the table, creating two small mountains.

Kakashi rolls his eyes before looking around a bit, trying to find another game he can beat Obito in when the break is over. His eyes widen ever so slightly as they land on the top rack of a boot of prizes; a chakra blade for the ultimate winner... He shakes his head. The game is to throw kunai at targets, only little kids playing ninja are crowding the stall. He will _not_ be caught dead doing something as... _childish_as that, no matter the prize. He'll just drop a casual hint at Minato that he might, perhaps, want a chakra blade which settles his next birthday present...

He smiles faintly under his mask. Though there is always annoyance when Minato drags him around, he can't deny that he doesn't feel the slightest bit happy over it either. At least his teacher looks out for him; he knows that not every ninja is as lucky as he is.

Upon feeling eyes upon himself, Kakashi looks back at the people sitting at the table. His eyes meet Shinra's crimson ones for a split second before Shinra looks away from him, staring at a spot of the table. 'Weirdo...' Kakashi thinks, rolling his eyes lightly.

"Alright, people. Here we go." Minato grins, appearing with a tray which carries several drinks for his wife and him and shaved ice-cream for the kids.

"Yay! Ice-cream!" Obito grins, nearly jumping up from his seat.

Minato chuckles, placing the tray down amidst the plushies, before handing Kushina a cold drink which she takes with a smile.

One by one the chunin grab their ice creams from the tray before the group starts to eat, the jounin watching over them with small smiles.

Once everyone is done with eating and drinking and Kushina is rested enough, the group plans to go again. Kushina is about to get up before spotting an event near the table which is about to begin. "Oh, look darling... You used to do that all the time when we still went to the academy." She smiles, pointing the event out.

Minato looks up before grinning lightly. There is a small sand road with flags at the beginning and the end. It's a speed game in which the fastest person wins a huge plushie. He remembers winning Kushina a big whale because he thought it was cute... then her punching him because she thought he was implying something.

Of course, he couldn't help but smile when they move together and he found out that she still had the big, offensive creature. He wonders what the plushie for today is...

"Maybe I should enter again." He grins, hopping up from his seat.

Kushina chuckles, lowering herself in her seat again. The race is close enough for her to be able to see it from here anyway, so why bother getting up?

Minato happily makes his way to the starting spot of the race and almost immediately the other people who had gathered there use the speed they had planned to use to win the race to get the hell away from there...

Minato pouts lightly, finding himself on his own. Then again, who would be insane enough to take it up against _him_of all people...?

Well, except for Kakashi of course, who takes his place next to Minato, making the blonde smile down upon him. "Let's have fun, Kakashi." Minato smiles at him.

"I'm going to defeat you, sensei." Kakashi huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"OI! KAKASHI-TEMEEEEEE!" Or so sounds Obito as he runs towards the two male members of his cell before coming to a stop at Kakashi's other side. "I'll beat you! Just you wait and see!" He declares, pointing at Kakashi.

From the table, Rin smacks her face. "No way..."

Shinra shakes her head slightly, not all too interested in seeing the three run around like crazy, as she gets up. Upon Kushina's questioning glance she replies. "Toilet."

"Alright, do you still know where it is or do you want me to take you there?" Kushina asks, smiling.

Shinra shakes her head lightly. "I remember... I'll be back soon."

Kushina nods before turning her attention back at her husband as Shinra wanders off.

"There's no way you'll beat me, you idiot." Kakashi snorts, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyes Obito.

"What! Teme! I'll show you!" Obito growls, moving to lunge at Kakashi.

"Calm down, guys." Minato smiles, placing his hands on their shoulders. "No need to fight, keep it clean." He comments, before ruffling their hairs.

Kakashi huffs, shoving Minato's hand away from his hair. "Whatever, sensei..." He drawls out lazily.

Obito growls before huffing. "I'll show you..." The Uchiha mutters, glaring at Kakashi who looks like he could really care less.

Kushina blinks from where she's sitting at the table, her eyes at Kakashi. 'Did he just...?' A smile finds its way on her lips. 'Interesting...'

The referee calls out that it's nearly time to start to race and that all participants should get in line. The poor man would've preferred if Konoha's 'yellow flash' wouldn't participate though... would mean more participants and thus more money... Damnit.

"Alright, guys. I'm not going easy on you." Minato chuckles, getting in position.

"I'm not going to lose to you, sensei." Kakashi huffs.

"And I'm not gonna lose to you, teme!" Obito scowls.

Kakashi and Obito get into starting position as well before they hear the referee hit a gong, indicating that the race has started. Not wasting any time, the three start running towards the end mark. Kakashi narrows his eyes lightly at Obito who reaches out to pull Kakashi back a little before lashing out with his foot, tripping the Uchiha.

"GAH!" Obito stumbles knocking into Minato, before falling down. In an attempt to grab a hold of something to keep from falling into the sand he ends up wrapping his arms around Minato's legs.

"Oi!" Minato comments before meeting sand as well with some dead weight on his legs. 'No choice...' The blonde thinks as she scrambles to get up. He tosses a kunai at the ending line just as Kakashi throws something behind them, before Minato disappears into a flash... Only to land on top of Kushina. "... Huh?"

"AH!" Kushina's first response to someone appearing on top of her is, of course, to punch the perverted offender in the face, before noticing exactly _who_the person was. "Oh, darling!" She gasps softly, covering her mouth with her hands.

Shinra snorts softly, the girl having returned a few seconds ago. 'Idiot...' She thinks, eying Minato's kunai which is next to Kushina, exactly where Kakashi had thrown it after switching Minato's kunai with normal ones when the blonde tried to pull him and Obito apart from each other.

"Oi, sensei..." Kakashi drawls as he moves back to the table while holding a bit tiger plushie which is almost as big as he himself is. "Haven't you done enough from that position...?" He comments casually.

Minato blushes lightly, hopping off of his wife. "W-Well, erm..." He coughs lightly before changing the subject. "I see that you won?"

"That I did." Kakashi smirks from under his mask.

Obito scowls as he plops down at the table, muttering about 'cheaters' and 'cheating', never mind that he was the one who tried to pull Kakashi down first and pretty much started the entire thing off. Kakashi taking his teacher's kunai was mostly a precaution in case the blonde wanted a very fast and very easy victory...

"Here." Kakashi conveniently dumps the big plushie in Shinra's lap who blinks before wrapping her arms around it to keep it from falling down.

"Thanks..." She's slightly surprised at how soft it is, but that's really the least of her problems... Especially considering she had enough problems carrying the other plushies. How is she supposed to take all of this home with her?

Kushina shakes her head lightly, easily picking up on her chunin's dilemma. "Kakashi, you're going to walk her home to help her carry all those things." She comments.

"Huh?" Is the first reply that leaves Kakashi's mouth.

"Well you can't expect her to carry all of that home." Kushina narrows her eyes lightly.

Kakashi eyes her before shifting her eyes to all the plushies. Even all the smaller plushies would've been hard for one person to carry, but when you add the big one to it... He shrugs lightly. "Fine." He comments, not really caring. Besides, Minato looked about ready to agree with his wife... might as well beat the blonde to talking.

Kushina smiles, looking satisfied with herself. "Now, you boys must be hungry after all that running around..." She muses. "How about we all get a nice bowl of ramen before heading home?" She suggests.

As everyone nods in agreement, Minato hops up. He figures it's currently too crowded at Ichiraku to actually sit _there, _so... "What does everyone want? I'll be back real quick." He grins.

After taking everyone's order, Minato walks off into the direction of the ramen stand. Kushina shakes her head lightly before replacing the kunai which is on the bench next to her onto the ground. She can only guess how Minato will return with the ramen...

She directs her eyes onto the table, taking in the sight. The girls have plenty of plushies now and while the boys don't have anything, they have 'battled' to their hearth's content. For Kakashi and Obito, that is much more important then the little trinklets that can be won around here.

"Did you have fun?" She asks Shinra quietly who glances up at her. The younger red-head glances up at her, staying quiet for a little time. Those few seconds in which she takes to ponder over the question Kushina feels a bit uncomfortable. She did bring the girl here to have fun after all, but what if she didn't? However, her worry seems to be in vain as Shinra nods lightly before resting her head on top of the head of the big tiger plushie, a small smile on her lips.

Barely able to suppress the sigh of relieve, Kushina smiles at her. "That's good." She comments, patting Shinra's head lightly.

Rin startles lightly as Minato appears next to the table where Kushina placed the kunai. No matter how often she sees her teacher in action, as long as she's not aware that he's about to appear she can't help but startle.

"Food's here." The blonde says, grinning cheerfully as he holds up several bags of Ichiraku ramen's take-out.

Within moments everyone has their own food in front of them before the group starts to eat quietly, well, if not for Obito trying to challenge Kakashi to a match to see which one eats the fastest... only to cry out "TEME!" when Kakashi's food is suddenly... gone and the silver haired kid sits back satisfied while rubbing his stomach, the action obviously meant to taunt the Uchiha... and succeeding.

There is no doubt about it; the one thing that's on par with Minato's speed is the speed in which Kakashi consumes his food... However, Minato's speed should not be underestimated either as he finished second after Kakashi before bouncing off to wherever and returning once everyone is done eating. Somehow he seems a bit... fatter? The empty plastic bowls that once contained their ramen are thrown away, the group gets up.

"I'll walk you to your house, Rin!" Obito grins at the brunette as he takes some of the plushies.

"Alright... thanks." Rin smiles, taking some plushies as well.

"Ah, right. You two have to go that way." Minato muses, nodding into the direction opposite the one the other four are taking. "Be careful on the way home, you two." He smiles, ruffling their hair. "But first, I have something for all of you." He grins, and Rin is happy to note that it's her teacher's usual grin and not his high-on-sugar grin.

Minato opens his jacket slightly before stuffing his hands into them. After rummaging around for a bit, he pulls out two alarm clocks. One is of a cute puppy which looks like it's about to bark, the clock in its mouth. The other one is of a baboon which has its back turned towards you, the clock being on the baboon's pink ass. He hands the dog to Rin who takes it happily.

"Sensei, it's so cute!" She grins.

"Glad you like it." Minato chuckles before handing the baboon to Obito who takes it with a sweat drop.

"Erm... Thanks, sensei."

"You're welcome. Now off you two go." Minato chuckles, waving the two off. Rin and Obito say goodbye to everyone, thanking Minato and Kushina for taking them around the festival, before leaving into the direction of their houses.

"Alright, now for you two." Minato grins.

Kakashi snorts softly. He was pretty sure that Minato had something hidden under his jacket, but really... alarm clocks? Though Obito definitely needs one...

Minato hands Kakashi his alarm clock, which is a crow seated upon one. "Thanks, sensei..." Kakashi sweat drops as he takes it. Ever since he got placed in Minato's cell he's always been subjected to getting presents that have either a crow on a scarecrow on them... fortunately he stopped thinking that his sensei was making fun of him some time ago.

"And now you..." Minato holds out an alarm clock towards Shinra who blinks and takes it, slight surprise in her face. She didn't think that Minato would get her something as well, especially since she's not in his cell...

She looks at her alarm clock which is of a lion with a clock in its manes, the lion looking ready to pounce. "Thank you..." She comments, holding it carefully.

"No problem!" Minato grins before crouching down. "You know..." He murmurs, voice soft enough so that no one else but Shinra can hear it. "If you marry Kakashi, I'll consider you my daughter-in-law." His grin widens a bit.

"... Huh?" Shinra blinks a few times, wondering if she actually heard that right...

Minato laughs, straightening up again and ruffling Shinra's hair. "And of course, for you~~" He holds out a heart shaped alarm clock at Kushina who takes it with a chuckle.

"Thanks, dear." She smiles, pecking her husband on the lips. "Alright, are you two ready to go?" She asks, glancing at Kakashi and Shinra.

The two nods, Shinra still looking a bit unsure after what Minato said before shaking her head and taking on her normal apathetic face.

Kakashi wordlessly starts to gather the plushies that are on the table as Shinra is still holding the big tiger, before the four start to walk off.

"Today was pretty fun, we should do this next year as well." Minato grins at Kushina. "The kids and our little Naruto~"

Kushina chuckles and nods, allowing Minato to wrap an arm around her waist as she leans against him ever so slightly, the sounds of the festival getting further and further away.

Kakashi shakes his head lightly, though not necessarily in disagreement. 'Hopefully there will be no more match making then...' He thinks to himself. 'Honestly, that stuff is simply embarrassing...'

At one point Minato and Kushina stop and turn towards Kakashi and Shinra. "Alright, you two. This is where we'll be splitting up. Stay safe, alright?" Minato smiles.

Kushina reaches down and pecks Shinra's cheek lightly. "Sleep well."

"You too... Thanks for taking me to the festival." Shinra murmurs.

"No problem." Kushina smiles before moving back to Minato.

Minato ruffles Kakashi and Shinra's hair before the two jounin start to walk off. However, Minato does make a point to turn his head back. "Remember what I said!" He calls at Shinra who sweat drops lightly before shaking her head with a sigh.

Kakashi raises an eyebrow but decides not to question it. "Well... Lead the way I guess." He comments.

Shinra nods before starting to walk into the direction of her apartment, the two being quiet the entire way there, their eyes on the road. It's only when Shinra stops in front of her apartment that Kakashi looks up and realizes that Minato was right; her house really _is_near his own. Only a two minutes walk away from it, actually.

Shinra fumbles with the key before opening the door. She glances back at Kakashi, wordlessly inviting him in so he can drop the plushies somewhere, before stepping inside.

Kakashi follows after her, placing the plushies he was holding on the couch in the small living room. "Well, bye." He comments, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Ah, wait..." Shinra murmurs, causing Kakashi to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Hm?"

She reaches towards her skirt and only now Kakashi notices that some parts of her skirt seem to be holding something. The item, whatever it is, is brought towards Shinra's hands before the skirt lets go. Kakashi blinks a few times as Shinra holds the item out to him. In her hands is the chakra blade that he spotted earlier that day, yet didn't want to play for.

"Are you sure?" He blinks, eying Shinra. Of course, for a jounin and ANBU member it's pretty easy to get a blade like that as they often deal with missions which require them, but for chunin as them it's pretty hard to actually get one of those if not received from someone.

She nods lightly. "For the plushies." She presses the blade against Kakashi's chest, causing the other to finally take it.

"Thanks..." He looks it over, marveling the fact that it is, indeed, a _real_one. "Wait... when did you get it?" He questions. He can't remember Shinra ever leaving the group.

Shinra shrugs lightly, brushing her fringe out of her eyes.

* * *

><p><em>Shinra shakes her head slightly, not all too interested in seeing the three run around like crazy, before getting up as the three guys prepare for the race. She tells Kushina that she needs to go to the toilet and promises to be back soon before wandering off.<em>

_Though she figures Kakashi thought he didn't pull attention to himself, she saw the chunin eye one of the prices at one of the stalls. It's hard not to stare at the price though, as it's something that can be counted for as rare amidst normal ninja's._

_She glances back at the table which she can see in the small distance before disappearing into the shadows. Stealth is her strong point, so she doesn't really worry over being seen by any of them... No need for everyone to question her motives, of course._

_She moves towards the stall and shakes her head lightly. 'Honestly... Kunai-throwing...' She thinks to herself. 'Too easy...' She moves towards the stall and waits in line. She stands out a little, most of the people in the line being kids that barely reach her shoulder and for a moment she worries over being spotted by someone from her group before shoving that thought away from her mind after sparing them a glance._

_Rin and Kushina are completely focused on the three guys. Obito and Kakashi seem to be arguing over something before Minato pulls them apart._

_"What's it be, little lady?" The owner of the stall grins at her._

_Shinra glances up at the man before pointing at the chakra blade which is placed upon the highest shelf. "I want to go for that one..."_

_The man chuckles. "Playing ninja, are you? Well, it's a big prize so it's pretty hard... You need to hit the center of 20 targets... with your back turned to them."_

_Shinra nods and drops the coins into the man's hand before taking the 20 kunai the man hands her. He explains to her which targets she needs to hit and after mesmerizing them, she turns her back at them, before casually throwing the kunai over her shoulder._

_There are a few gasps from the kids around her and for a moment Shinra wonders if they happen due to one of the kunai having missed their targets and having hit the man instead... that would be messy. When she turns around to face the stall however, she is greeting with the sight of the man looking at her in surprise, all the kunai having hit their mark._

_The man looks her over for a bit before his eyes land on the hitai-ate around her waist before he chuckles. "Well, that explains it. You'll do well in protecting the village with this one." He grins at her before climbing a few steps to take down the chakra blade and handing it to Shinra._

_"Thank you..." Shinra comments, taking the blade with both hands. There are a few awe's from the little kids around her as two pieces of her skirt shoot up, wrapping around the weapon, before falling down again, the blade hidden by the other pieces of her skirt._

_She nods at the man whom waves at her before walking back to the group, just in time to see Kakashi throw one of Minato's kunai on the bench next to Kushina._

* * *

><p>"Well, anyway, thank you." Kakashi comments, figuring there's no use to ponder over when exactly the other got the blade. He has it now, that's all that matters.<p>

"Thank you for the plushies..." Shinra replies, nodding lightly.

"No problem." Kakashi shrugs. He wouldn't know what to do with the damned things anyway... He turns around to the door. "Later, I guess." He comments, figuring that this will probably not be their last meeting if it's up to Minato...

"Yeah..." Shinra replies, watching Kakashi go.

Kakashi waves lightly over his shoulder before closing the door behind him. The chakra blade in his arms, he starts to walk towards his own apartment. 'Well... Turned out today was a lot less troublesome then I originally thought it would be...' He comments, looking at the blade and the alarm clock which he's holding in his hand carefully.

He smiles faintly underneath his mask. 'Can't wait for next year.'

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><p><em>Here for the replies to the anonymous reviews~<em>

**Lovegaara** - Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it :3. As for them starting to like each other, it's mostly hints thrown around here and there in this story but nothing too serious is planned. However, if you go to my user page and then click my homepage you get redirected to my deviantart account. I'm posting pieces of Kakashi and Shinra on there and I'm currently working on a comic which loosely follows the story but has a few more hints of them starting to like each other sprawled about. Since it's generally separately from this story, there is a chance that the relationships in there will end up differently then in here.


	6. The B Ranked Mission

**.6. The B-Ranked Mission**

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><p>"Well then, everyone." Minato smiles at the six chunin standing in front of him and his wife. The two have gathered their teams around in front of their house for an announcement. Minato can barely keep his smile from growing at the thought of his next words as he looks the group over.<p>

As always, Kakashi pays attention to him, probably wondering if a new mission is going to be coming up. Next to him Rin is watching Minato, listening to the blonde but not really paying as much attention as Kakashi is. Obito, however, doesn't seem to be paying attention at all. The Uchiha seems to be glaring at Kakashi every now and then, sometimes switching his glares towards Hiro who is standing next to him. Hiro sticks out his tongue at Obito before casually leaning against Fuji who snickers softly as Obito splutters, before the twins pay attention to Minato again. Shinra is simply staring at Minato, focusing much like Kakashi is. Surely they are all called here for a good reason... right?

"We have a mission for all of you... A B-ranked mission none-the-less." Minato says cheerfully enough, wrapping an arm around Kushina's shoulders as his wife leans against him.

This is enough to make Obito _finally_ pay attention to Minato. "Really?" The Uchiha asks. Though they're chunin, most of the missions they receive is C-ranked. Minato always mentions that for more B-ranked missions, team work is _very_important... something their team just plain-out lacks. But to do a B-ranked mission with another group... He wonders if they had to do the training with Kushina's team some weeks ago for this kind of situation.

"Yes, a B-ranked mission." Minato verifies, nodding lightly before pausing.

"Erm... Sensei, exactly _what_is the B-ranked mission?" Kakashi questions, tired of Minato dancing around the subject. However, it's the combination of the constant pauses and the location combined with his teacher's situation that tips him off ever so slightly... He glances at Shinra as she shifts lightly, noting that her eyes are drawn on the building behind their teachers with a sort of awareness which tips him off that she might have the same idea about this 'mission'...

"Why, you six get to help us move to another house of course!" Minato says cheerfully enough. Though, if he were to be honest, you can't call that a B-ranked mission... or even a C-ranked, really. But he thought it was the best way to get the chunin teams to be together without rousing suspicions. All he really needed to do was pull a few strings with the 3rd~ Besides, the guy owed him after losing last week at their weekly game night.

Kakashi face-faults ever so slightly and the slightly blank look on Shinra's face indicates that indeed, she was thinking the same as Kakashi was... and they were right. Considering there's a little one on the way... (Naruto, his name would be, right?) it's only logical that the Namikaze family would need to move to a bigger place.

"Eh! That's it! Sensei, that's not a B-ranked mission at all! That's a D-rank!" Obito objects, the words finally hitting him.

"Now, now, Obito." Kushina smiles at the Uchiha. "Surely that doesn't mean you refuse... right?" She raises an eyebrow and although the red-head is smiling, Obito gets the feeling that no, it's not a good idea to actually... reject.

"I never said I was going to reject the mission..." He mutters half-heartedly, scratching his cheek lightly. Sometimes he just _really_pities his teacher... Imagine having to live with mood swings. 'Sensei is a better man then I'll ever be... unless...' His eyes shift to Rin. 'It would be alright if it's her...'

From next to him he hears Hiro snort and a quick glance at the other shows that Hiro is looking straight at him, a grin on his face. Obito flusters brightly. "Don't read my mind! Teme!"

"Eh? Even if I'd be able to do that, there's no way I'd want to read _your_mind." Hiro snickers, shaking his head lightly. "Your idiotism might latch on to me, you know?"

"Why you..." Obito growls, digging his heels into the ground a bit more, ready to strike. He honestly wonders who he dislikes more at the moment... Oh-so-perfect Kakashi who is oh-so-much better at everything... or Hiro who just keeps taunting him, making fun of him... and worst of all... flirting with _his_Rin!

"Let's keep it calm, guys..." Rin tries, placing an arm on Obito to prevent the Uchiha from jumping up and attacking Hiro.

"Of course, if it's you who's asking." Hiro comments, smiling charmingly at Rin before turning his attention back to Fuji.

Obito lets out a feral growl but his reply is cut short by Minato whacking the back of his head lightly. "Ow! Senseiiii!" He whines, rubbing his head.

"Now, now... No more stalling and get to work, alright?" Minato comments while Kushina fastens Hiro (who had started laughing after Minato whacked Obito's head) with a _look_. Hiro calms down quite fast.

"Now, as all the things need to be packed and moved, we'd best get started soon. Some minor things are already packed, and a few heavier pieces of furniture will be moved by some moving nin tomorrow... but let's not make them do all the work, right?" Minato says cheerfully. "Now, I'll be pairing you six up in three teams so that you can work together on the heavier items and accompany each other with the lighter ones..."

It is then, that Kakashi _really_feels a sense of doom... and again, his feeling is proven right.

"Ah! Remember the teams we had when you all had to team up for training? Let's do the same teams!" Minato says cheerfully as if he just came up with it, but Kakashi knows better... He narrows his eyes at Minato lightly. 'Stop trying to match me up, sensei...' He thinks, hoping to get the message across. However, Minato only smiles back as if to transfer the message; 'I have no idea what you're on about~~'. To say that Kakashi finds it a tad annoying would be an understatement...

"No! I wanna be paired up with Rin, damnit!" Obito objects, pointing at Minato.

"Now, now, Obito. You can be with Rin some other time." Minato comments casually, ruffling Obito's hair.

Obito scowls slightly, watching Hiro stand next to Rin.

"Don't worry, Rin! I'll take care of all the heavy stuff so don't worry about a thing." Hiro comments cheerfully enough, throwing an arm around the brunette girl's shoulder.

Rin eyes him for a bit, not too sure what to make of the gesture before responding with a cough. "I'm a ninja too, you know..." She huffs, shrugging his arm off of her shoulder.

"Ah, I meant that in the nicest way possible, princess." Hiro chuckles, stuffing his hands into his pockets casually as he leans back slightly.

"P-Princess?" Rin blinks slightly, flushing ever so lightly. She can't recall ever being called such...

"But of course~" Hiro says charmingly enough. "And thus you should act as such, right? So by all means~" he removes his hands from his pockets to make a casual sweeping bow to her. "Let your prince carry the chairs and tables, will you not?"

"Eh... S-Sure..." Rin murmurs, eying the twin a bit weirdly. The guy is just _so_ weird that he doesn't make any sense to her... 'Princess...' A small smile appears on her lips. 'If only Kakashi would...' But she shakes off that thought fast enough. That's something which she _knows_ will _never_happen... Damnit.

It is by sheer willpower (and Minato grabbing his shoulder) that Obito does not jump in and attack Hiro out of the blue, beating the guy up until his face is just as black as his hair. "Sorry, Obito. The other one is your partner." Minato says cheerfully enough, pushing Obito towards Fuji who doesn't even bat an eye over his brother being all over Rin.

Obito settles for glaring at Fuji instead whom just eyes him before raising an eyebrow. "I didn't even _do_anything." Fuji scoffs, rolling his eyes.

Huffing, Obito crosses his arms over his chest.

Kakashi barely manages to suppress the sigh that wants to slip out as Minato not-so-unobviously pushes him to stand next to Shinra. He honestly wonders just why, _why_, his teacher seems interested in trying to pair him up with Shinra.

Sure, the girl could be called 'pretty', he's not blind so that's quite obvious. It's just not anything he's interested in... Then again, the whole dating concept isn't anything he's really interested in. That aside, even if he doesn't feel anything for her in _that_way, it makes more sense to him if Minato would try to pair him up with Rin... At least he knows her, and it's obvious she's attracted to him. But no, instead he gets stuck with a girl from another team who seems as interested in him as he is in her... He wonders why Minato and Kushina don't just give up.

That aside, from the few times they've been pushed together he noticed that she is a decent enough ninja. She's not weak, but doesn't seem too strong to him either; just the average. She seems to be on the same wave length as he is with multiple situations, which was proven a few minutes ago when the two of them seemed to realize what was going to happen (not that they could do anything to change it...), but still.

This time, Kakashi _does_let out a sigh, glancing down at her hand where the ring they had received from Minato is still placed around her finger, much like his own ring is. 'I wonder what these things do...' He finds himself wondering before shaking his head. 'I'll just look them up or something... Yeah, I should do that.'

"Well then! Let's get this mission started..." Minato utters before starting to place the teams in control of several rooms and telling them all to what house to take the things. He will be waiting at the new house to put everything away while Kushina will remain in the old house to help out in case there are any questions...

The moving itself goes relatively fast. Several hours later the six chunins are exhausted, surrounded by boxes which are placed around them while the other boxes are already put in the rooms they go to. Obito and Hiro had to be pulled apart several times, but all in all everyone got off with very little scrapes and bruises.

Kushina sits down on the chair that Minato kindly put down for his wife in which she lowers herself, resting her feet with a small content sigh. A happy smile is on her face as she glances around. Sure, the furniture and items still need to be put in place, but she can already see how it will look...

A nice spacey living room with a kitchen attached to it and a hallway which has some stairs leading up. Upstairs there are three rooms and a bathroom. Of course, the biggest room is the master bedroom for her and her husband, while the room opposite them shall be for Naruto. She smiles at the thought that it will leave a room empty for _another_addition to their family...

"So... is anyone hungry?" Minato asks, looking over the six chunin after a few minutes of rest. He is immediately met by sounds of agreement, showing that yes, everyone is _very_ hungry. "Well then... Who to send..." He lets his baby-blue eyes roam over the group and Kakashi just _knows_what's going to happen...

"Ah! Kakashi and Shinra could do it~" Minato says cheerfully enough. "Kakashi will keep allll the perverts away~"

Kakashi snorts. Yep. He _knew_ it. "She's a ninja... she can go on her own, right?" He snorts, noting that Shinra is rolling her eyes. Perverts would probably worry about _her_ then she about _them_...

"Now, now, Kakashi... It's either Shinra or Obito." Minato grins at him.

"..." Kakashi just eyes his teacher. He knows when a battle is lost...

"Well, get to it, you two." Minato comments, making shooing motions with his hands. "In the mean time, we'll put everything down in a way that we can all sit down comfortably by the time you two are back." He smiles.

Kakashi and Shinra let out identical sighs before eying each other for a few seconds as they walk out of the door to get to Ichiraku ramen for their dinner. Unlike Kakashi, Shinra keeps her eyes on the other nin as the two walk in silence. For a few minutes Kakashi is able to ignore this before turning his head to her with furrowed brows. "What." He comments, scoffing lightly.

"Just thinking." Shinra comments casually, barely blinking and still not turning her eyes away even after being caught (though she did little to hide it).

"About me?" Kakashi questions, raising an eyebrow at her. Considering he seems to be the focus of her attention that seems to be the most logical explanation to him.

"I guess..." She shrugs lightly before finally turning her eyes away from him and to the road.

"Hm?" Kakashi questions as he raises his eyebrow higher. "You guess?" Surely that's a question which you can only answer with yes or no... Either you think about someone, or you don't.

Shinra shrugs again as she turns her eyes to the sky. "Until a few weeks ago our teams had never met... even though our sensei's have been married ever since we've both been in genin teams... Suddenly we see each other all the time... Suspicious..." She explains to the other.

Kakashi blinks slowly. 'I think this is the most I've ever heard her say.' He thinks before forcing his thoughts back to the matter at hand. 'Well, at least I'm not the only one who noticed.' He tilts his head to the side. "We're being set up."

"Hmhm... We're always being sent out together with no one else around."

"Ah, but this time there _is_someone else around." Kakashi points out.

"Hmhm... I guess you're teammate isn't that good at stealth..."

"No, he's not." Kakashi agrees, sighing. He feels like he's been sighing a _lot_lately. Though the fact that Shinra said teammate and not his teacher or anyone from her own cell shows that Shinra was obviously able to sense who it was... Well, not that it's that hard since it's Obito, but still. It reminds Kakashi of when the two teamed up and won the rings. She was able to sense Minato even before he, Minato's prized student, did.

If Kakashi were to make a guess, he would say that Shinra is probably good at chakra control as she seems to easily pick up chakra signatures. However, she doesn't seem to be a healer like Rin who always carries a small first aid pack with her; he has spotted something like that on Fuji. This leaves him to wonder...

"What area do you specialize in?" He asks, quite bluntly at that. Of course, he has already found out shortly after meeting her that she specializes in trapping people, but surely that's not all? Even the Nara's who are known for trapping people in their kagemane's have their IQ going for them.

Shinra seems a little put off by the question, especially since it follows right after a discussion on how they're set up before shrugging lightly. "Stealth, I guess..." She muses. Unless the other decides to become a nuke-nin she doesn't really see any harm in letting him know. They're bound to be put together more often anyway so it might be easier to know about each other's abilities.

"... Stealth?" Kakashi repeats, wondering if he's heard right. Her steps are normally heavier than his own due to the heavy skirt she has so it's no wonder he finds it hard to believe.

"Hmhm... Stealth and genjutsu."

"Ah..." At least the genjutsu makes sense to Kakashi. With her lack of speed she'd easily be caught if not for a way to make sure that the enemy won't see her. It's also something that goes along well with stealth making that part a little easier to believe as well. "Alright."

Shinra doesn't bother asking about Kakashi's specialties; everyone knows about him. The two enter Ichiraku, ordering the ramen they know their team members will want.

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><p>Outside of Ichiraku, Obito is lurking in the bushes with a slight scowl on his face as he clutches his camera. 'Damn you, teme... Just do something already so I can make a picture and show it to Rin...' He thinks, gritting his teeth lightly.<p>

Though his prank on Kakashi some time back went a bit... _wrong_for him after Kakashi found out that no, it was not Shinra trying to get close to him but that he had simply henge'd into her, it did show some effect up until the point where Kakashi started thinking rationally again.

Originally, Obito had hoped that those moments would stay with Kakashi and develop into _something_on which the chunin would act upon, but no such luck. Apart from talking to each other, the two kept a fair amount of distance even when walking next to each other. To say it pisses Obito off would be an understatement.

"Ah, this is useless." He scowls, getting up from the bushes and plucking a few stray leafs out of his hair. He honestly doubts that anything will happen while the two bring back ramen to the new Namikaze residence, especially since they'll probably want to hurry up to keep the ramen up.

With a small huff, the Uchiha hops onto a roof before starting to make his way back to the others and to wait for his food. Besides... he'd rather get the yelling on his disappearance over with _before_Kakashi returns and is there to witness it...

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><p>Kakashi and Shinra return with four bags filled with ramen not too long after Obito returns to the rest and easily hand out the bowls to everyone.<p>

"So, how was the walk for you two?" Minato asks cheerfully enough in between slurping his ramen. He is answered by two shrugs at which he can't help but chuckle ever so slightly. At least a casual shrug is better than glares or blank, uncaring faces. "That good, hm?" He comments at which Kakashi merely rolls his eyes.

"No comment, sensei..." The gray haired chunin huffs softly as he places down his empty ramen bowl.

"You should really take some more time with eating..." Rin comments while pointing her chopsticks at Kakashi. "It's not good for your body if you just glob everything down." She huffs softly.

"Then fix me up when I get sick." Kakashi snorts before leaning back.

Rin flusters slightly before ducking her head. She thinks about Kakashi, laying in bed sick, with her sitting on a chair next to his bed and nursing him better. A blush stains her cheeks pink before she quietly returns to eating. 'I wouldn't mind that...' She thinks to herself.

"Hehh~~ You can fix me up when I get sick too~" Hiro coos at Rin, leaning towards her ever so slightly.

"... Eh?" Rin blinks, looking up.

"LIKE HELL SHE WILL, TEME!" Obito interferes, jumping up in his seat which causes the ramen to spill onto his lap. "GAH! HOT! HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!" He yells, starting to run and jump around while patting his lap.

Immediately, Hiro clutches his stomach as he starts laughing at the Uchiha, Fuji chuckling next to him. Rin is instantly up, getting water for Obito while Kushina takes him to the bathroom so he can change out of the pants.

A few minutes and an icepack later has Obito sitting with a towel around his boxers, looking at his empty bowl mournfully. "The food..." He sighs, the empty bowl in his hands.

Wordlessly, Shinra reaches over and dumps half of her remaining ramen into his bowl before sitting back again. It was her team member who caused this, so... she feels a little responsible.

"Ah, thank you." Obito blinks a few times at her before grinning. 'Whoa... First interaction.' He'd actually been pretty sure she was just ignoring him with how they never interacted.

Kushina can't help but smile lightly at the action. 'She's really doing better... I guess this entire thing is slowly being effective after all...' She thinks. For a while she had actually been wondering about that, no matter how perfect the plan had sounded at first. But little by little Shinra seems to accept the people in Minato's team. Kushina can only hopes that in due time they can all call each other friends... well, everyone except for Obito and Hiro, probably. That would just be wistful dreaming.

Rin glances at her own bowl of ramen. Surely, Obito dropping his ramen was his own fault, but he's still her team member... With a sigh she reaches out and places some ramen into Obito's bowl as well. Fortunately she and Shinra both have pork ramen, otherwise it could've turned out... nasty.

"UWAA! RIN!" Obito grins brightly at the brunette who smiles at him.

"Don't drop it again." She warns.

"I won't! I won't!" Obito's grin brightens even more before happily digging in, same with Rin and Shinra.

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><p>Once everyone is done eating and the mess has been cleaned, everyone starts departing one by one. The twins cheerfully hug Kushina and wave at Minato before walking out. Their steps and the swinging of their hands are done as if they are each other's reflection; a perfect mirror of each other.<p>

The next one to leave is Rin who remembers that she promised her mother she'd buy a few apples at the grocery store, sending her out in a rush since the store will close in less than ten minutes.

Kakashi and Shinra both move towards the door after saying goodbye to their teachers. The two walk with their usual distance between them, falling into a somewhat comfortable silence. Of course, a certain yellow flash interrupts this comfortable silence...

Minato pops up behind them, wrapping his arms around both their shoulders. "Come, now! You two live near each other, don't be strangers! Talk! Be friends!" He grins, sending Kakashi a not so subtle thumbs up, before shoving them towards each other's lightly as he disappears again.

Shinra stumbles a little, not having expected this. Due to their close promixity and reflexes, Kakashi grabs onto her shoulders to hold her up straight to make sure she won't fall on top of him and send them both crashing down.

There's a flash but neither of the two really notice as Shinra recovers her footing. "Thanks... Your sensei is weird." She comments.

"Yeah..." Kakashi shakes his head as he drops his arms before the two start walking back into the general direction of their houses again. This time, they wordlessly decide to cut the distance a little short as they do not want a repeat of what just happened...

And once again, the silence between them is comfortable once more.

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><p>Oooooh my God. I am SO sorry for the long wait! ...Truth it, I got an Xbox not too long ago, together with DOA4 so I've been... erm... (cough) occupied? n.n;;<br>I have the feeling I dragged things out a bit too much in some parts of this chapter... what do you guys think?

Also, the DA [can be found on my profile under website] now has a poll as well, featuring the question;  
><strong>Do you think Kakashi and Shinra should get involved romantically?<br>**A) Yes! ( =n_n= )  
>B) I don't really care much. ( v.v )<br>C) Erm, no. ( =_= )  
>If you have a DA, please take a minute of your time to share your opinion on this matter by voting... and if you don't have a DA, you can also leave a review... or both if you're that into it, haha. I'd appreciate if you could also motivate your answer, but you don't have to if you don't wish to do this.<p>

There is no guarantee that the most voted will actually happen in this story, _but_...! It will greatly influence some art pieces and stories that link to this one. So no, your vote will not be useless.

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><p><em>Here for the replies to the anonymous reviews~<em>

**narutofan**- Thank you very much! n.n I'm probably not going to change the canon since the canon fits with the ideas I have for this story, but I might make a "What If..." story or one shots at a later date in which I will change various things just for the heck of it. It will probably be in the same set-up as this story is; a bunch of one-shots tying together.

**Lovegaara **- Thank you! n.n And indeed, Shinra does not appear as a member of Team15, but that is because it's the Team15 of the 'future' so to say. Shinra is the Jounin leader of that team. Akihiro, Mizure and Kenji are her genin when Shinra grows up. This will be around the same time Kakashi has his own team. At first I started out with creating that team and it was mostly after the whole creation process was thought out that I delved deeper into when Shinra was younger and got to know Kakashi. I should probably set up some sheets for 'Team Kushina' as well, though. Just to make this all fit. If Team15 appears, then this will be in a completely different story, loosely linking to this one. Also, that would be in a different comic then the one I'm (VERY slowly but surely...) working on.


	7. Exposed?

**Warning**: ...I'm still in the last stages of being sick as I write this. Don't mind the chapter _too_ much.  
><strong><br>**

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><p><strong>.7. Exposed?<br>**

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><p>Kakashi scowls slightly as he hops over rooftops, trying to rush to the spot everyone is meeting for training. If it wasn't for him helping Minato out with his paperwork until yesterday late in the evening (as the blonde never seemed to be able to sort out the papers himself) he wouldn't have to rush nearly as much as now. As it is, this morning found by founding the very convenient snooze button on the alarm clock which Minato had given him back at the carnival, and turning around again... several times.<p>

He doesn't pay much attention to the bustling streets below him, his feet barely making a sound on the roof tiles as he draws nearer and nearer to the forest. He narrows his eyes lightly before speeding up some more, not allowing himself to relax before he enters the small clearing where he can see the bright blonde head which belongs to no one but his dearest teacher. How the man always manages to be up pert and cheerful even after pulling near all nighters shall forever be a mystery to Kakashi...

Minato's head raises as he spots his prized student a little ahead before his blue eyes widen. A flash is all there is as Minato suddenly appears in front of Kakashi. "Kakashi... I think we need to talk... You know... About the birds... the bees... the condoms... The kunai and the shuriken... and definitely the condoms...!"

"Erm... Sensei...?" Kakashi takes a step back, looking up at Minato in a mixture of horror and wonder. "What are you..."

However, he in interrupted by Rin launching herself at Kakashi, her eyes puffy and red. "Say it isn't true!"

"I know, I know... I was hoping not having to do this for at least a few more years, but..." Minato takes out a shuriken and a kunai.

"Erm... what?" To say that Kakashi is confused is an understatement... really.

"It's true..." A small sob escapes Rin's mouth before she runs off to sit behind a tree and mope around.

"So, Kakashi, when you have a girl and a boy..." Minato mutters in the background, moving his kunai and shuriken around as if to make a point.

Obito grins as he moves to Kakashi. "Kakashi old pal, old buddy, old friend~ I heard you weren't alone last night and your hair is even more of a mess then normally... Did you stay 'up late'?" The Uchiha grins, leaning towards Kakashi slightly.

"I wasn't, and it _did_turn pretty late..." Kakashi admits, leaning away from Obito slightly as he wonders why the hell the guy is acting so familiar...

From behind the tree, the sounds of Rin sobbing get just a little louder.

"So you actually did it!" Obito's eyes widen ever so slightly as he stares at Kakashi in something akin to amazement.

"Why, yes... I did it because _he_," Kakashi points at Minato who is still going on about kunai and shuriken in the background "was too lazy to do it."

Obito's eyes widen even more. "Kakashi-teme! Before me!" He staggers back before jumping behind the tree Rin is sobbing behind to sulk together with the female member of the team.

Minato stops his explanations, giving Kakashi a slightly lost look. "I was too lazy...?" He repeats softly before blinking. "You, erm... You _do _know what we're talking about... right?" He asks, raising a blonde eyebrow at his student.

Kakashi sends Minato a slightly annoyed look. "Yes, sensei... About that mountain of paperwork which was mostly filled in by _me_." He huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

Minato's mouth makes a small o shape before he coughs. "Erm... I'll be right back." He comments before flashing off to God-knows-where.

Kakashi raises an eyebrow but otherwise stays quiet, noticing that Rin's sobbing seems to have quieted. Well, that's good to know at least.

A few moments later, Minato appears in front of Kakashi again, holding a poster which displays Kakashi on Shinra; Shinra is leaning towards Kakashi while Kakashi has his hands on Shinra's shoulders. Kakashi recognizes the scene from when Minato had happily pushed them into each other, however that is not what catches his attention...

Underneath the picture the text; _Hatake Kakashi's secret relationship: Secret no longer!_is scrawled. There isn't anything he can do but stare at the picture quietly, letting the entire thing sink into his brain.

"I... See." He comments quietly because really, what else can he say to it? He knows that he can deny this entire happening all he wants, but he doubts that will actually do much. On another note, he does figure he should find out who the hell did this and beat them up. Badly.

"So... Nothing happened?" Minato questions carefully, letting the poster dance in front of Kakashi's face as if that will change his pupil's answer.

"No, sensei... You pushed us into that position." Kakashi comments dryly.

"Oh..." Minato blinks slowly before realization dawns. "Oh!" He grins lightly at the memory. "It was fun, wasn't it?" He comments.

"Sure, sensei." Kakashi sighs, shaking his head.

"Want to keep the poster?" Minato offers.

"Sensei... why would I want that poster?" Kakashi snorts, eying his teacher like he believes the blonde to be an idiot.

"So that you may remember your love for many years to come, of course." Minato answers, shrugging lightly.

"Sensei..." Kakashi grits his teeth lightly, about to tell his teacher off that there isn't any love between him and Shinra.

"Oh, look! There she is!" Minato opts, pointing behind Kakashi.

Kakashi raises an eyebrow, figuring that Shinra is also wondering as to who the hell did this to them and turns around. He wonders if it was Obito... But the twins on Shinra's team are also known to create havoc and pranks...

He blinks, realising that no one is behind him. "Erm..."

"Whoops, seems that it was nothing but a tree." Minato shrugs. "But you looked! That shows that you want to see her again." He points out, smiling at Kakashi.

Kakashi sighs and simply shakes his head. At the moment he's more interested in seeing her team members then seeing Shinra herself, after all. 'Maybe I should start with interrogating Obito... Not everyone has a camera after all and he has one...' He thinks. 'And his greeting was very suspicious...' He barely manages to suppress the shudder before making his way to the tree.

Well, that is the plan, but Minato's hand on his shoulder stops him. "Now, I think we should have this conversation nevertheless... I know that I gave it to you some time ago, but this time I'm prepared. I won't leave _anything_out. We will get through this conversation together, Kakashi."

Kakashi rolls his eyes to the heavens 'Oh please don't...' He thinks before submitting himself to Minato's story... But only because Minato calls out Obito and Rin (who seems to have recovered from her earlier depression and seems to be the same as always now that the misunderstanding has been cleared) and forces the entire team to the torture.

Afterwards when the three are completely traumatized and will, most likely, never look at shuriken and kunai the same ever again, Kakashi sends Obito a look which just _screams_; 'This is all your fault. Isn't it.'

Obito bites his lip, his eyes wide from Minato's story before he grabs onto Kakashi's top. "I am _so_sorry! It seemed completely harmless at the time!" He groans out, shaking his head.

Kakashi's eyes narrow ever so slightly. "From all the stupid ideas you had..."

"I actually agree with Kakashi this time..." Rin utters from where she's sitting. 'At least it was all a joke...' That thought alone is what got her through Minato's explanation with little trauma.

"No! Rin!" Obito cries out, letting go of Kakashi before scrambling over to his female team member. "Nonono! I'll make all this up to you! I'll take you on a date!" He comments.

"Uhm..." Rin blinks. "You should be apologizing to Kakashi and Shinra, not to me."

"Then I'll take them on a date! No! Wait!" Obito's eyes widen in horror at what he just said before he tries to rectify his mistake. "I'll _set_them up for a date!"

"Ano..." Kakashi appears behind Obito, looming over the Uchiha. "I think no..." He scoffs, hand itching to pulverize Obito.

"Oh come off of it, everyone already thinks you're dating anyway." Obito huffs.

"And whose fault is _that_, hm." Kakashi blanks at the other.

"Come on, guys..." Rin sighs. She knows that _someone_ needs to break up the fights between her teammates, but does it really have to be _her_all the time...?

"You know, a date isn't even _that_bad of an idea." Minato muses, joining his genin in the conversation, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Kakashi sighs. "Sense-"

"A training date, that is." The blonde grins, cutting Kakashi off.

Kakashi merely sighs again. "Sensei. _Honestly_." He blanks.

"Nonono, it's a good idea, really." Minato nods to himself before straightening up. "Come on, let's go to their training spot." He grins.

Kakashi groans while Obito scowls. 'Hiro is probably going to be all over Rin again...' He thinks, scowl deepening as his eyes shift to Rin who doesn't seem like she cares much.

With a sigh, Obito looks down. 'If I'd have known my little prank would turn out this way...' he thinks, shaking his head mournfully.

* * *

><p>The walk to the other side of the forest isn't as long as Kakashi had originally hoped it would be. About 40 minutes later team Minato is nearing the clearing in which they can hear team Kushina train, well... train...?<p>

"9... 10! Coming!" Fuji calls, letting his hands drop from his face.

Kushina watches with a small smile on her face as Fuji hops into a tree, circling it a few times, before grinning slightly. "Kai!" He calls and almost immediately the illusion that Hiro had used to cover himself is gone.

Wasting no time, Hiro rushes to where Kushina is seated, followed closely by Fuji.

"In!" Hiro calls, at the same time at which Fuji calls; "Out!" Both their hands on the tree next to Kushina, their fingertips in the small circle on the tree.

Kushina snorts. "Neither of you has your hands on the circle completely... come on, again. And you guys can come here if you want to watch." She turns her head to where team Minato is watching.

"Uhm... Why are you guys playing hide and seek?" Obito asks as the team moves to Kushina.

"It's common practice." Kushina shrugs. "The seeker counts to 10, which is really too little time to properly hide yourself. Thus, the people 'hiding' have those few seconds to conceal themselves to the best of their ability." She points out. "After that, the seeker tries to detect the hiders and then outrun them as they rush for the safe spot... which would be this." She taps the circle on the tree. "Your hand has to be completely in the circle for it to count, meaning that there can only be one winner which is either the hider or the seeker." She explains.

"Oh..." Obito blinks before frowning at Minato. "Why don't _we_ever do fun games like that!"

"Because sensei knows you'd lose too fast and give everyone a headache with your rant." Kakashi comments. He's played this game of 'hide and seek' before, years ago. It's very basic but remains effective in training if done seriously.

"Would you guys like to play too?" Kushina asks, ignoring the jab Kakashi sends Obito's way and effectively stopping any further fight.

"Sounds like fun, right guys?" Minato grins at his team.

Obito nods excitedly while Rin smiles and nods as well. Kakashi sighs but nods as well. He'd have rather used this opportunity to collect some more data on the other team.

"Alright... Hear that, Shinra? We're going to start again, you can come out now!" Kushina comments before blinking and glancing at Obito. "Oh, can you move a bit? You're standing on her." She smiles as she feels Shinra give out a wave of chakra in warning.

Obito blinks and steps to the side, just as Shinra raises up from the earth yet is strangely enough not covered in it, obviously having used a technique for it.

"Psh, I could've sworn I checked the ground..." Fuji huffs.

Shinra merely shrugs a little before moving back to Kushina.

"Alright, everyone gather around..." Kushina muses, watching all the chunin stand in front of her. Her eyes land upon Obito and she smiles. "Your Sharingan isn't activated yet, right?"

"No..." Obito huffs softly, lowering his eyes and steeling himself for the ridicule that often follows after that sentence. However, it doesn't come.

"Good, it would be a very boring game for you otherwise." Kushina chuckles. "However, I'm still going to have you start out being the seeker now that it's still possible to do so." She smiles at him.

Obito blinks a few times before grinning. "Sure!" He pipes up. "Just you wait, teme! I'll find you!" He points at Kakashi who merely rolls his eyes and shrugs.

"Alright, now come here... Don't forget. Even if you find someone, you still have to mark them as 'out' and hiders can try to mark themselves as 'in' as any given moment. This is a battle in which the strongest prevail and in which the losers bite the dust, you got that." She narrows her eyes lightly and Obito nods almost solemnly.

"Yes!"

Hiro snorts slightly at the display before leaning towards Rin a little more then he probably has to. "Does he always get this hyped about a game?" He murmurs to her, sweat dropping ever so slightly.

Rin merely sighs and closes her eyes. "You have no idea..."

* * *

><p>The two teams play the game for a few hours straight, everyone taking turns in finding each other. Hiro and Kakashi prove to be the best seekers, managing to find almost everyone while having the speed to tap everyone out after wards.<p>

Shinra and Obito are the worst seekers. While Shinra manages to find everyone quite easily, she lacks the speed to mark them as 'out' most of the time. And while Obito has the speed... he is, simply put, all over the place, straying too far from the safe point so that people slip past him and mark themselves as 'in'.

The best hider is Shinra, but as staying out of sight is her specialty that isn't too much of a surprise. She blends into nearly everything and strays as close to the safe point as possible, generally tapping herself as 'in' while the seeker is too occupied finding other people. Rin is a close second when it comes to being the best, having a great chakra control. While she's not adverse in genjutsu and thus can't hide too well, she can use normal means of hiding and cover up her chakra.

The worst hider is, surprisingly enough not Obito but Hiro. His chakra control is only so-so, so even if he uses genjutsu to cover himself, if you wait long enough you can feel small waves of his chakra.

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" Kushina smiles at the teams, most of the chunin a tad tired and ruffled up. She is still sitting where he had been sitting before, the only difference being that Minato is sitting next to her, holding her small hand in his, their fingers laced.

"Shall we all get something to eat?" Minato comments, looking the chunin over as well. "You're probably pretty hungry after all." He grins.

Murmurs of agreement (and a few rumbling stomachs) answer the blonde and soon enough everyone is on their way to Ichiraku ramen where the group of eight sits down.

Kakashi doesn't even look up as he's placed next to Shinra anymore and Shinra doesn't even blink at it. Both of them are starting to get used to the seating arrangements that are generally forced upon them. They make sure to ignore the look Teuchi is giving them as they quietly wait.

Obito is happily discussing the games they played with Rin, Fuji and Hiro occasionally piping in their own comments. Though it's slightly surprising that Obito doesn't attack Hiro out of nowhere, the group deals with it pretty well, figuring Obito is still happy over _not_being the worst in everything for a change.

Granted, Obito is hardly a crappy ninja as there are definitely worse ninja's around, but he really had the bad luck of being placed in the same team as the nearly perfect Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi glances at Shinra before speaking in a hushed tone. "Did your team bother you over the poster?" He asks. Though he was pleased that there were no posters in town as they walked here, so he figures that people took them down.

Shinra shrugs lightly in reply. "Not really... They said I'd date Genma before I'd date you and that was it."

Kakashi blanks lightly. 'Genma... Genma... Ah.' His mind draws the picture of the pretty midi core ninja from team 2. "Really now." He comments dryly, thinking back to when Genma one time spilled water all over Kakashi when he tripped. Kakashi disliked the guy ever since. 'I'm better than _him_.' He can't help but think as he suppresses the huff.

"Apparently." Shinra comments.

"... Really, though. Why Genma, of all people?" Kakashi questions. Heck, there are a lot of ninja which are better and would be a _lot_better suited to be used compared to himself... No, he's not vain, just truthful.

"To make a point, I guess?" Shinra comments, placing her chin on the palm of her hand, resting her elbow on the bar. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since the last time our teams did a mission together."

"You did a mission together?"

"Yeah." Shinra nods. "Our teams were generally put together for bigger missions, but I guess we'll be put together with yours from now on." She comments.

"Most likely." Kakashi agrees, only looking up when Teuchi starts placing down bowls of ramen in front of everyone. He notes with a sweat drop that Teuchi has cut his and Shinra's eggs in the shapes of hearts. 'Really now...' He thinks before shaking his head and eating at the same speed as normal as the others start eating as well.

After dinner, the group exits the small ramen stand before Minato turns towards the chunin with a smile. "Now, don't forget. Jiraiya-sama will be training you lot tomorrow since Kushina has to go to the hospital for a routine check-up. I expect you'll all be on your best behavior, alright?" He comments.

The chunin nod at his words and Kakashi can't help but to wonder just what kind of man Jiraiya, the legendary Sannin, is. The man trained his teacher after all... '... He can't be anything other than a weirdo.' Is the conclusion that Kakashi draws with a sigh.

"Oh! Kakashi, you should-"

"Walk Shinra home?" Kakashi comments dully, cutting off Minato. Heck, that's nothing else then what his teacher makes him do _every_time, after all...

Minato blinks before grinning. "Well, I was going to say that you should go to bed early tonight, but sure!"

"..." Kakashi is quite aware of Obito, Rin and the twins staring at him but is too busy beating himself up over what just happened to care much. 'I can't believe I walked right into that one...' He thinks, ignoring the people who are staring before glancing at Shinra who's making it a point to keep her eyes on the ground. "Let's go."

She glances up at him before nodding. "Bye." She tells the others as Kakashi waves at the rest before the two start to walk down to their houses, leaving the group first for a change.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Kakashi rubs his forehead lightly. "... That was awkward."

Shinra bites her bottom lip to keep from smiling before nodding. "It was..." She doesn't even bother to cover up the amusement in her voice.

Kakashi feigns a scoff before huffing. "I didn't see you getting us out of that situation."

"Ah... That's because you did a good enough job digging a hole for the both of us." Shinra points out at which Kakashi lets out a mock-gasp.

"Since when are you so cheeky?"

Shinra shrugs lightly, this time allowing a small smile to show as she glances at Kakashi. "I wonder..."

Kakashi blinks before chuckling softly as he shakes his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he turns his head to the sky in which he can see the sun setting. "Well, whatever." He muses, his own smile hidden under his mask.

He knows that later tonight he'll probably pass off this easy-going attitude as being tired and refuse to think on it anymore, but at the moment he's perfectly content walking home together with Shinra.

* * *

><p><em>Alright, as mentioned at the top, I'm still suffering a little from a cold... but I really didn't want to keep you guys waiting anymore so I decided to update as I will be gone Monday to Friday and it's really been too long already. That said, if you leave me a review in that time I won't appreciate it any less; replies will just take a liiiittle bit longer~<em>

_As most of your probably noticed in the beginning, this chapter was supposed to be another crack chapter as I wasn't completely sure what to do with it other than the fact that I wanted to update. But somewhere half-way I figured out something to do with it! Go me!_

_I came up with the hide-and-seek part out of nowhere but it seems like a perfectly efficient way to train, don't you think? Well, that said, Jiraiya will be in the next chapter! Yes! Can't wait, can you? =D_

Ano review replies~

**narutofan** - I only noticed after your review that I had _completely_ forgotten to give any explanation on how it was a mission even though I did have one in mind before hand... so I edited that. Thanks for that! ^^  
>Some romance hints are appearing here and there once more~ And I can only hope you found this chapter as enjoyable to read as the previous ones.<br>And don't worry, you're perfectly understandable. English isn't my first language either so I'm generally struggling with my own grammar, haha. Where are you from if I may ask?


	8. The Legendary Sannin Part 1

**.8. The Legendary Sannin pt. 1**

* * *

><p>"Huh... We're supposed to meet him here, aren't we?" Obito asks, looking around confusedly.<p>

"Yeah... Nearly 20 minutes ago." Fuji sighs, closing his eyes from where he's lying against the trunk of a tree.

The six chunin are gathered together near the entrance of the female bathhouse, waiting on the man whose stories have long since spread into the other ninja villages.

Obito is hopping from foot to foot while looking around, wondering if they have been forgotten for some big, secret mission or something along those lines. Rin is sitting on a rock next to him, shooting some glances at Kakashi and Shinra occasionally whenever she recalls the posters that were spread around the previous day, otherwise keeping her eyes on the sky. She's a bit put off by the relaxed atmosphere the two have; especially considering how the two were at all the previous meetings. Kakashi is leaning against the wall of the bathhouse casually, his eyes closed and head slightly lowered.

Sitting against the wall, next to Kakashi, is Shinra. She lifts her head slightly upon which she meets Rin's eyes and raises an eyebrow, causing the brunette to glance away hurriedly once more before the red-head shrugs. Fuji is laying against a tree, his eyes closed as he seems to be dozing off even though he makes sure to listen carefully to whatever is going on around him while Hiro is sitting on one of the lower branches of the tree, legs dangling not too far above Rin's head, but high enough that he won't accidently kick her.

"It's a pretty weird meeting place, though..." Rin mutters, recovering from having been caught staring.

"No way, I'd love to meet you at the baths more often than just today!" Hiro pipes up, immediately catching Obito's attention.

"SAY WHAT! TEME!" The Uchiha yells, fisting his hands as he glares up at the twin who merely chuckles at the reply, waving at Obito while sending a wink at Rin.

"IYYYAAAA! PERVERT!"

Eyes that were closed open as all heads snap to where a man with a mane of white hair runs past them, laughing loudly even as a bar of soap hits him in the head.

"Wasn't that..." Shinra murmurs, eying the back of the white head.

"I think so..." Kakashi mutters, narrowing his eyes lightly.

"Huh? Don't tell me the pervert is the great Jiraiya who's going to train us!" Obito cries out, eyes widening.

As soon as he says that line, the white haired pervert pulls to a stop, before turning and moving back to the group, grinning. "Someone said my name?" He comments, cheerfully enough.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The chunin stare at the man before sending awkward glances at each other.

"Are you... really Jiraiya?" Rin asks carefully while peering closely at the man's face for any signs of lying.

"Of course I am!" Jiraiya huffs softly. "And you're Rin, my beloved pupil's little chunin! My, you will grow up as one fine lady, won't you? That is, if you fill out a little in the chest department." He grins at the brunette.

"E-Eh!" Rin cries out aghast, crossing her arms over her chest as if to cover herself while Obito's face turns red with rage.

"SAY WHAT, YOU PERVERT!" He cries out.

"Yeah! There's nothing wrong with Rin's chest!" Hiro huffs, throwing a twig at Jiraiya's head. He's slightly surprised when the twig actually hits, burying itself in the white mane. 'I thought he'd dodge that.' He thinks, blinking slowly.

"Oi, oi. I'm complimenting her, complimenting." Jiraiya rolls his eyes, running his hand through his hair and taking the twig out.

"That's not how you compliment a girl." Fuji snorts, closing his eyes once more. 'Idiot... I can't believe I quit that shogi match with Shikaku for this maniac.' he thinks, feeling slight annoyance creep up.

"Like a little boy your age knows anything." Jiraiya waves the comment off casually, letting his eyes roam over his group before grinning. "Oh! And I spot another girl~ Trapping people in your skirt, hm~?"

Shinra eyes Jiraiya for a bit before raising an eyebrow at him, a blank look on her face.

"Ehehe... Not amused, I see." Jiraiya mutters, slightly put off by the lack of reaction as he normally gets from his comments. "Well, whatever! I'm supposed to train you lot, so train you is what I will do!"

"Oh! Oh! Are you going to train us like you trained Minato-sensei!" Obito asks excitedly, his anger towards the man completely forgotten at the aspect of training; the chance to prove himself better than Kakashi.

"That would depend on how well you adapt, wouldn't it?" Jiraiya replies, smiling slightly. "Now, everyone... How would you enter the bathhouse?" He asks, a smirk on his lips.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Come on, that's part of the training. How would you infiltrate it? The female bathhouse, how?"

Shinra snorts softly, shaking her head lightly. "I'd walk in."

"Right! Henge is an option." Jiraiya grins, ignoring the sarcasm that was dripping from Shinra's answer.

"I'd sneak in through the ceiling, I guess." Kakashi answers, shrugging lightly.

"Ah! The prized chunin of the moment, finally speaking up, eh?" Jiraiya grins at Kakashi. "You look a lot like your dad, didya know that?" he comments casually.

Kakashi narrows his eyes at Jiraiya at which the Sannin coughed, picking up the warning signals.

'Touchy, touchy.' He thinks to himself. "Alright, we have henge and sneaking... What else?"

Upon receiving no replies, he shrugs. "Eh, that works. They're the most common anyway. Speaking of bathing houses, we should probably relax a bit before the actual training, right? How about we go in, my treat." The man offers.

"Huh... really now." Rin mutters, a bit skeptical after the displays the Sannin has shown them up until now.

"Yes, yes. Best way to get to know each other is when naked, right? Eh, well, for the guys then. Obviously you two and I will have to get to know me after everyone gets dressed again." He shrugs lightly.

Some suspicious looks are exchanged, before one by one, the chunin slowly nod. They doubt their teachers would dump them with someone who would harm them in any way, after all.

"Great! Let's get going." Jiraiya grins.

* * *

><p>Not even half an hour later finds Shinra and Rin in the woman's bath, a bit away from the other females that are occupying it.<p>

"I can't shake off the feeling that something isn't right about this..." Rin mutters, lowering herself into the water so that it rises to her chin. "Like Jiraiya-sama can jump up at any given time, you know?" She comments, holding her towel around her body a bit tighter.

"I guess it wouldn't really surprise me, considering how we met him." Shinra muses, head tilted back slightly as her eyes are on the sky.

"Huh... You seem pretty relaxed anyway." Rin mutters.

"Whether he jumps out or not doesn't really matter, right? Nothing we can do about it from this side until he actually _is_at this side." Shinra points out, shifting her eyes to the brunette.

"Hmm... That's true..." Rin sighs, shaking her head while still feeling uncomfortable about the entire matter. She looks Shinra over slowly, tilting her head to the side. 'Red against silver...' She thinks, remembering how the other looked on the poster with Kakashi. 'Not too bad a combination, I guess...' She lowers herself into the water a bit more, small bubbles appearing when she breathes out. 'Nonono. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts... You shouldn't go about depressing thoughts.' She berates herself, shaking her head lightly.

Unfortunately, this action causes water to come into her nose, making Rin straighten up slightly as she can feel a coughing fit come up.

"... Are you alright?" Shinra asks after a few moments in which Rin manages to calm down the coughing.

"Y-Yes... Ah! I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Oh?" An eyebrow raises.

"Yeah. Red hair is pretty uncommon after all... Are you related to Kushina-sensei?" Rin questions, tilting her head to the side in wonder.

"Yes. I'm her child from her previous marriage." Shinra replies, shrugging ever so slightly.

"Child from..." The words finally sink in. "... EH!" She jumps up in the water, looming over Shinra with wide eyes. "REALLY!"

"No, I was kidding." Shinra snorts, closing her eyes once more.

"... Oh." A small frown appears on Rin's face as she lowers herself in the water again. 'Right... that was obvious.' she thinks to herself. "Uhm... You and Kakashi seem to get along, right?" She asks carefully.

"Ah, I guess."

"Huh... What... do you think of him, exactly?" Rin asks, mentally crossing her hand over her heart and preparing for the worst.

* * *

><p>"WOOHOO~!" Obito jumps into the water of the bath happily enough, making water splash around.<p>

"Oi, be careful with that." Kakashi scowls, adjusting the small towel that is on his face, replacing his mask. He wouldn't want the real thing to get wet after all.

"Eh, if you want careful then you shouldn't go to public places." Hiro grins at Kakashi as he jumps into the water as well, right in front of Kakashi, as if to spite the silver haired chunin.

Kakashi scowls, moving back a little before sitting down in the water. 'Idiots.' He thinks to himself while rolling his eyes. 'Both of them.'

Fuji sinks into the water next to Kakashi, drawing his attention. "Kids will be kids." Fuji comments casually as he lays back, seeming perfectly content.

"I guess so." Kakashi replies, raising his eyebrows at the words. 'Quite different from Hiro.' He thinks to himself before mentally shrugging. 'Well, whatever.'

"Haa~ I can't believe that Rin is in the bath next to us, divided only by this screen..." Obito groans, placing his hands onto the screen as if to get his point across better. "I want to see her..."

"That's why you'll peek on her."

"That's why I... Hey! No I won't!" Obito turns around to Jiraiya, eyes wide.

Jiraiya laughs, plopping down casually. "Gather around, boys. Your first training is going to start soon."

Kakashi eyes the white haired Sannin. He knew it. He just _knew_it.

"The training is~! To infiltrate the woman's bath." Jiraiya grins.

Fuji opens his eyes to stare at the Sannin while Obito and Hiro actually look at each other questionably just as Kakashi groans. 'I knew he was a weirdo...'

* * *

><p>Yes! Pt. 1! There shall be a Pt. 2!<br>This... was a pretty short chapter compared to most of the other chapters, sorry about that ^^;;  
>I mostly tossed it out to show that yes, I still remember you all! The thing that has be so occupied lately is linked indirectly to MoaN, though~<br>For the people who watch my DA, this isn't a surprise, but lately I've been slaving over trying to figure out the basics of flash and the result is that my Kakashi and Shinra dating game is almost finished! Actually, the demo is currently up and the actual game should be up in a few days as well if all goes well...

Pt. 2 will be longer, and most definitely better. It's a shame, but I'm writing this as I'm pulling an all nighter, which is why it's kinda so-so x.x. That's also one of the reasons why I'm dividing it into two parts; there is a lot that can be done with Jiraiya there, so I want to make the chapters he appears in as fun as possible.  
>Of course, I could have waited with writing this chapter, or at least read it in a few days, but I really don't want to let you people wait any longer than you already have... x.x;; Don't worry, the next part will be written in a less awkward way xD;;<p>

And cliffies! ...Somewhat. How will Shinra reply? Will the boys consent to the peeking? Who knows... Guess you'll be finding out next time, right? Anyone who's interested in the Demo of the Kakashi dating game; the link to my DA is my homepage link on my profile. Cheers!

* * *

><p><em>Here for the replies to the anonymous reviews~<em>

**narutofan**Haha, got that right~ Slowly but steadily they're getting along and hopefully a friendship will be build~ And nice! ^^ I'm from the Netherlands myself.

**Lovegaara** Yes, they're doing pretty nicely, aren't they? xD And ah~ Christie~ I just keep getting stuck in your weird stances by accident~~


	9. The Legendary Sannin Part 2

... It's been forever and a half and I had honestly believed that I had already put this chapter up. So when I wanted to write the next chapter and read back to where I'd left off, I had been REALLY confused when I didn't see it. So, after digging through my computer for a bit I found it and learned that it was only half done o.o"  
>So! The past week or so was spent in completing this chapter (which was horribly difficult to write!) and the result~? ... 18 pages.<br>Yeah, shocked me too. Writing the end to it was so hard that it took me 3 pages! T.T  
>Anyway, with how long you guys have been waiting, I'll just go and let you read now... n_n;<br>More ranting at the bottom~ 

* * *

><p><strong>.9. The Legendary Sannin pt. 2<strong>

* * *

><p>-<p>

_"Haa~ I can't believe that Rin is in the bath next to us, divided only by this screen..." Obito groans, placing his hands onto the screen as if to get his point across better. "I want to see her..."_

_"That's why you'll peek on her."_

_"That's why I... Hey! No I won't!" Obito turns around to Jiraiya, eyes wide._

_Jiraiya laughs, plopping down casually. "Gather around, boys. Your first training is going to start soon."_

_Kakashi eyes the white haired Sannin. He knew it. He just knew it._

_"The training is~! To infiltrate the woman's bath." Jiraiya grins._

_Fuji opens his eyes to stare at the Sannin while Obito and Hiro actually look at each other questionably just as Kakashi groans. 'I knew he was a weirdo...'_

Obito blushes brightly. "Like I'd do that!" he practically screams.

"That's right, Jiraiya-san. Obito would get caught within seconds and get beaten up." Kakashi points out.

Obito's eyes widen. "WHAT!? SAY THAT AGAIN, TEME!"

Kakashi narrows his eyes lightly. "I'm saying that you'd get beaten. By Rin." he repeats in a blank tone.

"NO I WON'T! YOU'LL GET CAUGHT BEFORE I WILL!"

Kakashi rolls his eyes at this. "Like I'd actually sneak into-"

"Hoo~ Denying to accept a challenge is the same as losing one, you know." Jiraiya grins at Kakashi, eyes curving up in amusement.

Kakashi eye twitches lightly as he thinks of losing a challenge even through forfeiting it, to Obito no less... "Fine." he grits out, standing up in the water, annoyance radiating off of him.

"Hmph!" Obito hops up as well, challenge in his eyes.

"What about you two, hm? Gonna let him beat you as well?" Jiraiya grins at the twins.

Hiro is about to reply but Fuji takes his hand, lacing their fingers.

"Yep. We're fine with that." Fuji says calmly, causing both Jiraiya and Hiro to pout lightly.

"Come on~ We should play too~" Hiro coos.

"We will, just not with something as suicidal as this."

"Suicidal...?"

"Hmhm. Who knows who exactly is in there? What if there are some majorly strong women in there who can kill us by blinking?"

"Huh..." Hiro ponders over this for a few seconds before shrugging and sitting back. "True to that." he comments, relaxing while holding Fuji's hand a bit tighter.

Neither of them noticed Jiraiya paling at the words 'suicidal', 'majorly strong women' and 'kill'. The Sannin recovers quickly though as he turns to the Hatake prodigy and the Uchiha idiot. "Alright, you two! Don't get spotted! The one who actually returns with someone's towel is the one who wins, alright?"

"Alright!" Obito agrees, pumping his fist into the air.

"... Oi, oi. Who decided that?" Kakashi sweatdrops at the assignment.

"I did, of course." Jiraiya grins.

"Like I'd actually steal something when it's not part of a mission." Kakashi huffs softly.

"Fine, fine... you don't have to take something." Jiraiya concedes. 'Minatooooo... your kid is ruining my fun...!' he thinks. "Just touch the wall at the opposite end of their baths and come back without being smacked, alright? And, of course, preferably without being seen."

"Yes!"

"Yeeeees."

"Oi, Jiraiya-sensei. Did _you_ ever manage that?" Fuji calls at him.

Jiraiya splutters at the question. "Of course I did! I am the legendary Jiraiya-sama after all!"

"I hope that peeking isn't what made you 'legendary', though." Hiro pipes up.

"I'd hate to imagine what kind of people the non-legendary ninjas were in your time if that really is what made you famous." Hiro adds.

"Right, guys?" They ask at the same time as they turn their blue eyes to Kakashi and Obito.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Jiraiya makes a mental note never to take identical twins to a place where everyone gets naked ever again. There is just no keeping them apart this way.

"Fine, how is this. If one of them manages the task, then I'll show you one of the things that made me legendary, alright?" Jiraiya sighs.

Well. That certainly works to motivate Kakashi. "So... Touch the wall, don't get hit, come back, then watch something interesting... is that it?" he comments to make sure that he got it right.

"... What kind of guy are you if you don't find the part _before_ coming back to the man's bath interesting?" Jiraiya groans, Obito and Hiro nodding in agreement.

"Fine. Come back, then watch _another_ interesting thing... happy now?" Kakashi comments dryly.

"Yep! That's exactly how it goes." Jiraiya nods.

Hiro turns sad eyes at Fuji who sighs as he lets go of his brother's hand.

"Fine Just don't get killed or anything. Women are _vicious_." he points out.

"Whoo!" Hiro hops up, only to get pulled down again.

"Got a plan yet?" Fuji asks.

"Nope. I'll create one on the spot."

"... I'll just come with you to make sure you'll survive then."

Hiro grins brightly at Fuji as he stands up again, this time dragging Fuji up with him. "Don't you always?"

"Alright!" Jiraiya clasps his hands together. "Enough chatting, let's get moving. Is everyone ready?"

As the four respond with affirmatives to that question, he claps again. "Then let's start!"

* * *

><p><em>"Uhm... You and Kakashi seem to get along, right?" Rin asks carefully.<em>

_"Ah, I guess."_

_"Huh... What... do you think of him, exactly?" Rin asks, mentally crossing her hand over her heart and preparing for the worst._

"Of Kakashi?" Shinra raises an eyebrow, wondering where Rin is trying to head to with that question.

Rin squeezes her eyes shut. "W-Would you date him!?" she cries out, flustering in embarrassment as this causes other women to look their way at her loud tone. She mumbles a few apologies. "So... would you?" she asks in a more normal tone seeing as Shinra hasn't given a reply just yet.

She watches Shinra's eyes linger on a patch of water a bit away from them before the red-head shrugs and turns her attention back to Rin. "Would I date Kakashi? Huh... Probably not." she muses.

Rin blinks as she can hear someone choking on water and looks behind her. At the spot where Shinra was looking earlier she can now sense Obito's chakra signature. Her eyes narrow lightly as she forms a seal. "Kai."

Immediately the genjutsu that was hiding Obito from view fades away, revealing a stunned Obito under the water, the amusement from the girls' previous conversation fading from his eyes rather quickly as a murderous aura whips up around Rin.

"Ooooobiiiitooooo...!" Rin grits out as various woman start screaming, noticing Obito.

Obito gulps, shooting up so that he's standing. "Rin! No! Wait! I can explain!"

"I can't believe you!"

"Wai-"

"Gale Palm!"

"GAHHHHH~!"

Shinra glances towards her left, ignoring the two for now. "I wonder... should I smack you around too?" she muses, raising an eyebrow at the spot where Kakashi appears, releasing the genjutsu.

"Ah... Preferably not." Kakashi muses, shrugging and plopping down next to Shinra. Fortunately for him, everyone seems to be too occupied with hating on Obito to actually notice him there as well. "You knew where we were, right? Why didn't you tell Rin?"

Shinra raises her eyebrows at Kakashi. "Why tell her when she presents me with an opportunity to make Obito reveal himself?" she points out.

Kakashi blinks, tilting his head to the side as he quickly runs the conversation through his mind. "Ah, then your answer...?"

"It was a very easy way to let Obito make a sound, don't you think?"

"I suppose so." Kakashi muses, nodding. "What would your real answer to the question be?" he asks curiously.

Shinra tilts her head to the side as she meets Kakashi's eyes easily. "Why don't you ask me out and find out for yourself?"

Kakashi snorts softly, shaking his head with a slight chuckle before the two turn their attention to his two other teammates again.

"Suppose we should break them apart before she kills him?" Shinra asks.

"Yes... I believe that might be best." Kakashi agrees before getting up with a sigh. "Rin!" he calls.

Rin blinks, turning her head to Kakashi, before blushing brightly as she tries to cover herself more than the towel already does out of embarrassment. "K-K-Kakashi!" She squeaks out.

"Yo." He raises his hand. "I'm here to retrieve that." he points at Obito who is laying at the side of the bath, unconscious, bleeding from various places and bruises already forming on the skin.

"...!? Oh. My God I'll heal him right away!" Rin rushes out, embarrassment increasing. She didn't realize just how badly she lost it when she spotted the other.

Shinra snorts lightly, turning her attention to where she can feel the twins. However, except for a quick trip to the wall and then back to the male side she doesn't notice anything strange about them. She shakes her head before looking up, just in time to watch Kakashi sling Obito over his shoulder, telling Rin to just "do it when everyone is dressed" before the silver haired chunin also leaves.

Rin awkwardly moves back to Shinra. "Uhm... Do you mind if we get out already...?"

Shinra shrugs lightly, standing up. "Not really." she muses before the two move out of the bath and to the changing rooms to get dressed.

* * *

><p>"Alright! You kids ready to see what makes me so great?" Jiraiya grins at the two teams in front of him, his hands in his side.<p>

Rin fixed up Obito's wounds so that they're not bleeding anymore, and if you ignore a few bruises littered on his skin, he looks quite healthy again.

"It would be about time to see you do something productive." Obito huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "I went through a near-death experience because of you!"

"I'm so sorry..." Rin mutters, looking down at the ground, biting her bottom lip.

"Ah! No! I didn't mean it like that, Rin!" Obito objects, flailing wildly.

"Ahaha..." Jiraiya scratches his cheek as he watches the two, trying to shove aside some unpleasant memories before he coughs, rubbing his hands. "Well! I'll show you something great kids, so keep your eyes open!" He bites his thumb before slamming his hand down on the grass. "Summoning Jutsu!" he calls, a poof of smoke appearing, before it disperses, showing Gamabunta.

"Haaaah? Where's the enemy, Jiraiya-chan!?" Gamabunta demands, looking around.

"No enemy today, Bunta. Just showing these cute lil' chunin something interesting." Jiraiya chuckles, looking at the group. He expects to see looks of admiration, only to be met with blank looks.

He lets out a sigh, letting his arms drop. "Allllright. Everyone who has a summon; lift your hand." he groans.

Kakashi, Rin and Shinra all lift their hands.

"Go figure." Jiraiya huffs softly before shrugging. "Well?"

They eye him for a bit before biting their thumbs, using the summoning technique at the same time. A squirrel is in front of Rin, a few pups are in front of Kakashi and a small ball of... fur is in Shinra's hand, easily fitting in it.

Kakashi eyes the fur ball. "Did you summon a dust bunny or something?" he asks, reaching out and poking the little ball.

Shinra smirks lightly as the result is a small hiss and four small scratches appearing on the finger, making Kakashi pull his hand back with a wince. "Of course not, it's a cat." she points out, placing the silver fluff, which she named Fluffy, on the ground.

Pakkun moves closer to it and sniffs it before cocking his head to the side. "Want to touch my paw?" he barks out, causing Kakashi to sweatdrop.

Fluffy shuffles away from Pakkun in response.

"Ne, ne, Kakashi... What do you think?" Rin asks, holding up her squirrel.

"It's a squirrel...?" Kakashi mutters while tending to the scratches on his finger.

"Isn't it cute?" Rin smiles.

"... Yes. Adorable. Really."

Obito pouts at Jiraiya. "Hey! Teach me how to summon something as well! Minato-sensei keeps saying it's not my time yet!"

"Then it probably isn't." Jiraiya sweat drops before turning to the three that already have summons. "How did you all get your summons?" he questions.

"Runs in the family." Shinra shrugs.

"Same." Kakashi agrees.

"Mine too!" Rin smiles.

Jiraiya shifts his eyes to the twins.

"No summons here." Fuji shrugs.

"I see..." Jiraiya muses. Well, if half of them can summon things, then that means that the other half is already used to summons... Still. You'd expect them to be at least _slightly_ in awe over Jiraiya summoning a very big toad... But no. Apparently not.

"Oi, Jiraiya...! I'm not a baby sitter for critters, ya hear!"

Jiraiya opens his mouth to retort as he turns towards Gamabunta, before noticing Pakkun being chased around by a vicious looking Fluffy, the two of them running in circles around the toad.

"... Yeah. You can go." Jiraiya snorts, shaking his head lightly as Gamabunta disappears, same with the summons of the three students.

"So, Jiraiya-sensei... what's next on the list, hm?" Hiro grins at Jiraiya.

"Next?" Jiraiya mutters, looking around to try to find an idea before blinking. "Ah! I know." 

* * *

><p>Rats squeak loudly as they scurry through the dark alley, their pitter-pattering footsteps echoing loudly. The windows aligning the walls are cracked and dirty. A single open door is partly off of his hinges, creaking as the wind moves it back and forth ever so slightly.<p>

The six genin stare at Jiraiya who is standing near that same door, the six of them still standing at the beginning of the alley, simply waiting for someone to jump at Jiraiya and kill him; they read plenty of stories that go like that after all. Murders happen in alleys such as this.

"Come on, you lot. Get over here." Jiraiya calls at them, making a 'come here' motion with his hand.

The chunin glance at each other before sighing and surrendering to their fate as they slowly move to where Jiraiya is, all of them completely conscious of their surroundings. It is to their surprise that they make it to where Jiraiya is with no problem, preferring not to think about the fact that they also need to walk back once they finish with... whatever the hell it is they need to do here.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen, probably." Jiraiya chuckles, noticing how apprehensive the students are behaving. He opens the old and creaky door before stepping inside, closely followed by the six chunins.

Kakashi scrunches up his nose, even through the mask the heavy scent of cigarette smoke and alcohol is enough to make his eyes water. It's times like these when he hates his overly sensitive senses. Looking over at the other chunin, he can see that they're not faring much better.

Obito looks at Jiraiya, "Jiraiya, why are we- "

A chuckle cuts his comment short, "How about you look around properly before asking questions, hm?" Jiraiya smiles, causing the chunin to force themselves to get over the smell and to properly look around the dimly lit room. There is a bar at the far wall, the bartender vaguely reminding Kakashi of a rogue ninja from Rock he's seen in the bingo book, but he doesn't linger on this piece of information. Crazy as the Sannin might be, Kakashi doubts Minato would've left them with someone who would put them in danger. Various round tables are scattered around the room, sets of four or more people seated at them and playing a card game that makes Hiro brighten up.

"Are we going to play?" Hiro asks Jiraiya eagerly. "Like, are we really going to play?" he grins, causing Jiraiya to chuckle and nod.

"Play what? What are they doing?" Obito asks, watching the cards and the colored chips on the table confusedly.

"I think they're doing that my dad and uncles do every Thursday evening... playing poker." Rin muses.

"Got that right," Jiraiya chuckles before moving them to an empty table that has a small note stating 'reserved'. He swipes the note and motions for everyone to sit down.

"You actually reserved us this table?" Fuji asks, raising an eyebrow at Jiraiya.

"I did now," Jiraiya chuckles before motioning for them to sit again, which the chunin finally do. "Alright, from Obito's reaction earlier, I'll assume that not everyone knows how to play, so I'll explain the rules." he continues, drawing the attention of Obito and Rin. "Alright, so here's how you play it..." 

* * *

><p>"Hmm... Nice, nice... Hmm... Good luck with those... Hehh...~~"<p>

Kakashi's eye twitches at the various muttered comments coming from Jiraiya as the old man walks around the two teams. It really is off-putting, the way Jiraiya is commenting at random, regardless of the cards the chunin are holding.

"Uhm, Jiraiya, this is...?" Rin asks, staring at her cards uncomfortably. While Jiraiya explained the rules and points while dealing out some playing chips, it was simply too much information to remember it all at once. Fortunately, Jiraiya doesn't mind explaining things as they go.

The Sannin looks at the cards in Rin's hands before he leans down, whispering the meaning of her cards behind his hand, blocking off all attempts at lip-reading. Kakashi thinks that the man is probably an expert poker player himself - the man has an excellent poker face when it comes down to it.

"What's a full house?" Rin asks.

Kakashi's eyes widen a little- a full house? Well, it's definitely possible, judging from the calculations he made concerning everyone's cards (though for some reason, not all of them seem to add up...) but to announce it to the table... A bluff? Not a bluff? Which can it be? But one look at Rin's honest face which is set in a small confused frown, is enough to tell Kakashi that yes, it's probably true. He finds that he is not the only one who comes to the conclusion and therefore he's not surprised by what comes next;

"Fold."

"Fold."

"Fold."

"ALL IN!"

Alright, so maybe there is something surprising about it after all. Everyone at the table stares at Obito (together with a few people from nearby tables).

"Haa! Bakashi might be scared, but I'm not!" Obito declares proudly.

Jiraiya face-palms himself- is this really the guy of whom Minato had said that he might be able to see himself in? Really?

"Uhm... Full house."

"One pair!"

Rin looks at Jiraiya, "So now I get all his coins, right?"

"Right."

"... Eh? EH!? I LOST!?"

Kakashi snorts softly while Hiro and Fuji both utter a, "Moron" which causes Shinra to crack a smile. Rin smiles at Obito in apology before she reigns in the loot.

"Can I get ya kids 'nethin'?"

Looking up, Kakashi's eyes land on a waitress of questionable origins, though Jiraiya and Fuji obviously find no fault in the busty blonde.

"Well, you know-" Jiraiya starts off smoothly, only to be interrupted by Fuji who leans back in his chair.

"Oh you definitely, _definitely_ can." he says with the boyish grin that is more commonly found on Hiro's face when he's teasing Rin.

Rin stares with slightly wide eyes before she looks at Hiro in shock, only to find him rolling his eyes in a manner of 'not again', exactly the same face Fuji sometimes has when Hiro goes after Rin. Kakashi tries to find some answers as well, looking over at Shinra to see if this will grant him some. From her impassive expression he gathers that this happens a lot.

Obito stares at the scene blankly. "Help? What do you need help with?" he asks, completely clueless, which causes Kakashi, Rin, Shinra, Hiro and Jiraiya to look at him, wondering if he's for real.

"Uhm... I think he's serious." Rin mutters.

Jiraiya stares at Obito for a few seconds before he grins, "Well then! We'll take a break in which I'll tell you kids all about the kunai and the shurik-"

"NO!"

Shinra and Hiro startle, staring with wide eyes at the outburst the blushing team Minato brought forth.

"We're good!" Rin objects. "We already had that talk from sensei!"

"Really?" Jiraiya frowns. "Well, that's too bad..."

With baited breath the occupants at the table keep their eyes on Obito who takes a few seconds to register the information before his mouth forms a little 'o'. Soon after, his eyes widen as the full implication hits home, "EH!?"

"Are we going to continue, or what?" Hiro asks.

"Sure." Jiraiya says, still sulking a little over not being able to give 'the talk'. He sighs, shaking his head. "Alright... Everyone who wants to order something can go ahead and do... it... huh?" where was once the waitress is now an empty spot behind Fuji's now-empty chair. Looking up, he finds Fuji walk off, an arm around the waitress' waist. "Hey! We're still in the middle of this!" he calls after them, only to have Fuji raise an arm at him in goodbye, the boy not even looking back. Jiraiya can only stare with wide eyes and his mouth wide open as he sees the chunin accomplish what he can only accomplish with a certain amount of money in certain places. 'Little Casanova?'

"He's a lost case for now, shall we continue?" Shinra asks.

Jiraiya huffs before taking the cards and starting to shuffle them, before the game is on once again.

As the game progresses, Kakashi lets his eyes roam over the table. With Obito and Fuji out of the picture, it's just him, Rin, Shinra and Hiro who are still playing. The chips seem to be divided somewhat equally at first glance, but Rin's pile is shrinking slowly. Kakashi doesn't doubt that she will be out of the game soon if she doesn't encounter another lucky streak.

Of course, that would leave him with... His eyes shift to the other two at the table. Taking into account the weird place Hiro's blue eyes are lingering, Kakashi can't help but raise an eyebrow. After all, why would someone want to look at his forehead...?

...

Oh. That's why. His forehead protector. Judging from Hiro's fascination with it (though said fascination was only a few seconds for it to remain inconspicuous), Kakashi doesn't doubt that it reflects his cards. Kakashi clenches his jaw- how come he didn't notice before? No wonder that Hiro (and Fuji too, now that he thinks about it) often folded or raised at the right moments.

'I wonder...' he thinks, eyes shifting to Shinra. So far her cards just keep throwing off his calculations. He can't shake off the feeling that something isn't quite right about this...

Feeling eyes on her, Shinra looks up at Kakashi, tilting her head to the side in question. Kakashi shakes his head before looking down at his cards again and adjusting his hold on them so that they shouldn't be reflected in his forehead protector anymore. Judging from Hiro's pout, it seems like the adjustment worked. Neither Kakashi nor Shinra noticed Rin watching their wordless exchange. 

* * *

><p>Jiraiya smiles when he sees Kakashi adjust his cards. 'He's a smart one alright. Just like you said, Minato.' he thinks before looking at Shinra. 'Sneaky... definitely good for stealth.' he looks at Hiro. 'Him and the other one are definitely good at making use of their surroundings. As for them...' he watches as Rin loses her last few chips, Obito telling her that she did great even though she lost. 'Poker isn't their thing.' Jiraiya decides before looking back at the game. <p>

* * *

><p>With his advantage done, Hiro is out of the game soon enough as well, before he goes off to collect Fuji. Kakashi and Shinra are the only ones remaining, Kakashi's pile of chips a bit bigger than Shinra's.<p>

Kakashi looks at Shinra, "This has been going on for a while now, hasn't it? Let's make this fast, I'm pretty hungry."

Shinra nods, "Agreed."

Kakashi nods back before looking at Jiraiya as the Sannin shuffles the deck before dealing the cards. Kakashi sees Hiro and Fuji return from the corner of his eyes, Fuji wiping away what looks like a lipstick stain on his neck, before he focuses on the cards in his hands as the game starts. Perfect.

"There is nothing you can do to win," he says.

"You sound very sure of yourself." Shinra says.

"I am," Kakashi says "if you want, we can make a bet- assuming you're ready to lose."

Shinra raises an eyebrow, "What kind of bet?"

"The question from before... if I win, you'll have to answer it." Kakashi narrows his eyes a little- not knowing the answer is getting to him more than he'd thought it would.

Shinra blinks, "The question from the bath house?" she asks, at which Kakashi nods.

_"Huh... What... do you think of him, exactly?" Rin asks, mentally crossing her hand over her heart and preparing for the worst._

_"Of Kakashi?" Shinra raises an eyebrow, wondering where Rin is trying to head to with that question._

_Rin squeezes her eyes shut. "W-Would you date him!?" _

"Hmm... If you will, I suppose I'll answer it." Shinra says. "But if I win, you're going to have to ask me the question, to find out the answer to it."

_"What would your real answer to the question be?" Kakashi asks curiously._

_Shinra tilts her head to the side as she meets Kakashi's eyes easily. "Why don't you ask me out and find out for yourself?"_

Kakashi shrugs. "That's fine. I'm not going to lose anyway." he states.

"We'll see..." Shinra smiles slightly, making Kakashi wonder if she has something up her sleeve.

"OI! TEME! STAY AWAY FROM RIN!" Obito cries out, trying to drag away Hiro who has draped himself over Rin.

Kakashi narrows his eyes at the scene, 'Can't they see I'm trying to win a game here' he thinks before looking at Shinra. "Let's do this."

Shinra nods. "Let's." 

* * *

><p>Kakashi racks his brain. How can this be? For several rounds now, Shinra has had exactly the same cards as him. Every time he tries to crack the mystery he is interrupted by his useless teammate who is going mental over the loud twin who seems to be trying to get with his useful teammate while the quieter twin is starting to make him all sorts of nervous while pacing right behind him. Shinra is cheating, she has to be. His eyes trail to Shinra. 'But how...'<p>

Jiraiya yawns, "Oi... are you kids done yet?" he sighs. It was fun the first time around, but now the two have equaled out for 13 rounds so far- the Sannin's stomach keeps protesting and his annoyance at Fuji waving at the waitress every now and then is growing.

"Not yet, there isn't a winner yet." Kakashi says stubbornly.

Jiraiya groans. "We'll just say you won, since she's cheating anyway."

Kakashi blinks, shifting his eyes from the unfazed Shinra to the bored looking Sannin. "You noticed how she did it?"

"Hehh... I'm not known as the great Jiraiya for nothing!" Jiraiya grins.

"Then..." his eyes shift to Shinra.

Shinra shrugs. "I don't mind, I guess..." she says, her stomach clenching a little in hunger.

Kakashi frowns a little. True, a win is a win, but... "Fine." he gives in eventually. "I win. That means that I also win the bet."

Shinra tilts her head to the side- she'd nearly forgotten about the bet... She nods. "You do."

"So, the answer?" Kakashi asks.

"I have it." Shinra says.

"And you would tell me." Kakashi says.

Shinra nods. "I will. I just never said when I would."

"..." Kakashi really can't believe he walked into that one...

"Alright, kids! First place, Kakashi! Second place, Shinra! Third place, Hiro! Today was a successful day for training!" Jiraiya grins.

"Training? What training?" Obito objects.

"Hehhh~ Idiot, can't you tell?" Hiro grins, ruffling Obito's feathers for the umpteenth time that evening.

"TEME! WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT!?"

"You, obviously." Hiro snickers. "First he had us infiltrate a place, now we played a game which is all about deceiving your opponent and winning in whatever way you can win with." he says, ignoring someone muttering about cheating in the background "That's training right there, right?"

Rin puffs up her cheek. "Well we didn't get to infiltrate anything." she says, meaning herself and Shinra.

"You got to defend against an unplanned infiltration, right?" Hiro grins.

Rin blinks, "Well, yes..."

"Haa~ Someone noticed my genius~" Jiraiya grins.

"Are you sure you weren't just playing around, and he's looking into it too much?" Kakashi asks dryly.

Jiraiya splutters a little, "Of course I'm sure! Now let's get out of here, go go go." he says, ushering the chunin out.

"What about the bill?" Shinra asks.

Jiraiya grins, "Think of this as the last part of training."

A feeling of dread hits Rin. "You mean..."

"That's right~ Run!" Jiraiya speeds off.

"Hey! Hold it right there!"

The chunin glance at each other before looking back, noticing the angry looking barman take out several shuriken and kunai, before they break out into running as well, avoiding sharp items as they do.

'Sensei... I truly wonder if this guy was any good for you...' Kakashi thinks, barely able to dodge a shuriken that would've taken off his ear if he'd been any slower. 'But I think I finally realize how you got so fast...' 

* * *

><p>"Alright, you all did great today." Jiraiya says, turning to the chunin when they're in the clear. They all seem to be unharmed- good. Minato and Kushina would have his hide if they weren't... Especially Kushina would get on his case. "Well then, since we have winners and losers, I suppose we have to give out prizes to the winners, hm?"<p>

"Prizes?" Fuji perks up a little. Damnit. Lost out on something good again...

"Of course!" Jiraiya grins. "Now, Hiro who got third place will get~ Dundundun~~ This!" he strikes a pose, holding a coupon for an all-you-can-eat dinner at Ichiraku for two people.

Hiro grins, snatching the coupons. "Nice, nice~ Rin, want to go?"

Rin blinks, "Me? Oh, uhm... Alright."

"OI! TEME!" Obito interferes.

"Now then, as for our number one and two~ This!" Jiraiya grins, striking the same pose. Only this time, instead of holding coupons for Ichiraku, there are vouchers for a love hotel.

"..."

"..."

Kakashi and Shinra stare blankly at the white haired Sannin.

"Ahaha... not good?" Jiraiya asks.

They shake their heads. =.=

"Haa... Kids these days are so tame." Jiraiya scratches the back of his head. "Well, here you two go." he sighs, handing them Ichiraku coupons as well.

"Thank you." Shinra takes her coupon while Kakashi takes his with a nod.

"Since there's three coupons, good for six people in total, does that mean you guys are treating us losers?" Fuji asks.

Kakashi raises an eyebrow at him, "Now why would I want to do that?"

"How hurtful." Fuji chuckles.

Shinra watches them before shrugging, "I don't mind taking you out to eat."

Fuji blinks, "Really?"

She nods. "Who else should I take with me?"

"Well, I suppose that's right."

Obito stares at them, finding that he's the only one who hasn't been invited to eat at Ichiraku's. "Fi-Fine, you guys go and eat! Who needs you anyway!" He sulks, crossing his arms over his chest.

Almost immediately, everyone else looks at Kakashi, the only one who's still holding his unshared coupon.

Kakashi rolls his eyes with a sigh. "Moron. Let's go."

"... Really?"

"I suppoooose."

"YOSH! I get to eat with Rin!" Obito punches the air.

"No way, I'm the one who gets to eat with Rin." Hiro grins, wrapping her arms around Rin's neck from behind the brunette girl. "After all, I'm the one who asked her, aren't I? To a d-a-t-e~"

"TEMEEEEE~!"

Rin winces, "Guys..."

Kakashi sighs, watching the drama unfold from the side lines, together with Shinra, Fuji and Jiraiya. 'What a waste...' he thinks, looking down at his coupon.

"Oh! Before I forget, here's another prize for the winner." Jiraiya grins, rummaging around in his pockets while Kakashi perks up, looking at him.

What can it be? Since it's from one of the legendary Sannin, it can only be something great, right?

"Ta-dah~" Jiraiya proudly holds up a certain orange book.

Kakashi blinks, reading the title. "Icha Icha... what's that?"

Jiraiya pats his head, dropping the book into Kakashi's hands. "Something that will help you along greatly in the future, of course." he grins. "Don't worry, you'll thank me for it."

Kakashi blanks at him. The wording is weird, but if it's supposed to help him... 'Training techniques?' he thinks, pocketing the book while Fuji's highly amused smile goes unnoticed. 'I'll be sure to read up on them later...'

"Well then, the night is still young and there are still many, many lovely women just waiting for the great Jiraiya-sama to come across them~ Adios, you kids! We will meet again soon, probably." Jiraiya chuckles before disappearing into a cloud of smoke, not giving anyone a chance to respond.

Fuji claps his hands, "Alright kids, play nice now." he tells Hiro and Obito, both of whom have decided to hug Rin who is looking completely and utterly lost with the fact. "I'm hungry, I'm sure everyone else is hungry too, so let's go."

"But that teme-" Obito gets cut off by Rin.

"I'm pretty hungry too." the brunette smiles slightly, worming away from the two and starting to walk with Fuji, soon followed by Hiro and Obito- the latter of the two who is glaring at the former.

Kakashi shakes his head. "You do know that you have fault in this development, right?" he asks Shinra.

Shinra shrugs as they start to follow after the others. "Food is best eaten with others, is all."

"Well, you're right about that, I suppose..." Kakashi mutters. "... so how did you cheat?"

"You want to know?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to know."

"Fine," Shinra shrugs "sleight of hand."

Kakashi eyes her, "Sleight of... but that's so... basic?"

Shinra smiles slightly, "But it worked."

"Touché..." Kakashi mutters before shaking his head. Now that he knows, it's not hard for him to imagine how it all went down. When they were all playing together, there were bound to be moments in which everyone paid attention to others, and when they were playing together, she no doubt made use of the disturbance created by Hiro and Obito. No doubt, Shinra had hidden extra cards in her skirt. 'Was it the plan from the start...?' he thinks, eyes shifting to Hiro who is snickering at Obito whom looks about to explode. 'Then, the one who probably came up with that strategy, and the one who probably notified her about my cards...' his eyes shift to Fuji who is quietly leading the group away. Kakashi narrows his eyes. Now it makes sense why Fuji was lingering behind him, applying pressure. 'A smart guy that tends to be in the background... I guess he really shouldn't be underestimated...' his eyes shift to Hiro, then to Shinra. 'That entire team isn't... but neither is ours... Seems like sensei might have actually been on something when he had us train together with them. Hmm... Well, I can't wait for what surprises will be uncovered next...'

Shinra raises an eyebrow at him. "You're staring."

"I'm thinking." Kakashi defends.

"About something interesting?"

Kakashi smiles slightly from behind his mask. "Of course." 

* * *

><p>Alright! First things first~ Many people probably noticed while reading this chapter, but! I. Don't. Know. Poker. At all, really. I mean, I played a bit of Hold'em yearrrssss ago, but that's my entire experience right there, it's completely different from what they did in the chap anyway. I'm more for Solitaire... ._."<p>

Now, in case anyone else is wondering, the next chapter shall be either Orochimaru, followed by Tsunade. I got a few fun things in mind for those chapters, so look forwards to them~ Only, they hopefully won't drag on quite as long as Jiraiya did, haha.

I realized it's probably very hard for people to be able to gauge my progress on the next chapter and such, so you can now add me on a face book page which was designed especially for my fanfics, art and games. On there I'll be mentioning my progress with all of these and if you have any questions, you'll be able to ask them on there as well. The link to the facebook page can be found on my profile, or found on facebook under .

Well, that's it for now!  
>~ Team15<p> 


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